This story was reported and written by Radio IQ.
Governor Glenn Youngkin expressed concerns about illegal drone use across the Commonwealth during his trip to President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week. And a Virginia state senator has a bill to address the issue.
Hampton-area Democratic Senator Mamie Locke has the Newport News shipyard, Langley Military Base and other federal and national security-related infrastructure in her district, and she’s heard complaints about drones in their air space.
“The bottom line is there is a significant gap between what federal and state authorities can pursue and what is needed for an advanced deterrent,” Locke told the Senate Courts and Justice Committee Monday morning. “Virginia can step up to further deter this type of activity.”
Locke’s bill was advanced to its next step unanimously Monday morning. It’s a rare point of agreement between Democrats in the majority in Richmond, Youngkin and President-elect Donald Trump.
“Glenn was telling me today that in Virginia they have drones all over the place, too, and nobody's reporting it — and I don't know why they're not,” Trump said alongside Governor Youngkin at Mar-a-Lago last week.
Youngkin, meanwhile, said there’s been drones spotted in Virginia’s protected air space for the last two years and the current administration’s inaction on the issue was “unacceptable.”
“Trump and the new leadership coming in will work diligently to understand who’s behind this and what we do in order to stop the digital surveillance of all of our secure infrastructure,” the governor said.
It was the only mention of Virginia at Trump’s gathering with Youngkin and other GOP governors. And while Locke’s bill may reinforce local authority to address drone issues, she worries Trump’s promise to cut federal workers in Virginia could make government installations in her district less safe.
“In their minds it's, ‘Let's go in and cut, cut, cut,’ without even understanding what it means to federal facilities,” she told Radio IQ Monday.
Over the summer, Youngkin said Trump's term would be such a success Virginians who may lose their jobs would be able to find new ones in the Commonwealth.
“There are fabulous opportunities for folks to find a new employer in Virginia should the one they work for move away,” Youngkin said in August.
Youngkin also mentioned the importance of new drone legislation during his State of the Commonwealth address — meaning Locke’s bill may be on the way to becoming law later this year.
During debate over the bill, Prince William County Senator Jenifer Carrol Foy, a public defender, sought to see the felony punishment attached to Locke's bill reduced. Foy said the current bill's punishment is two to 10 years in prison; she suggested a lighter classification with one to five years.
"You think flying a drone over an area is as bad as kidnapping, shooting into a vehicle and arson?" she asked.
But bill advocates pushed back.
"If you give up the nation's secrets on vital technology, you're putting our troops in harm's way," said James Perrine with the military shipbuilding company Huntington Ingalls Industries, who spoke in favor of the bill.
Perrine told the committee a Chinese national caught for illegally using a drone over their Newport News shipyard last year was given only six months in jail. The higher punishment was needed to "get the deterrent we want from this."
Isle of Wight-area Republican Senator Emily Jordan agreed, saying it was “narrow enough to protect national interests.”
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
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