Bill lets hobby drone flyers use more airspace near airports

What it does

The bill changes federal aviation law. It lets recreational drone operators fly in Class E airspace. Class E airspace is controlled airspace above uncontrolled airspace, often near airports. Before this bill, hobby flyers could only use Class G airspace.

Who it affects

Recreational drone hobbyists can now fly in more places. The bill does not add new safety rules, training rules, or equipment rules for these flyers.

One thing to notice

Hobby drone flyers in the new airspace do not need the same training or equipment as commercial operators. The bill does not say how to avoid crashes with airplanes.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.

• Dec 4, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Dec 4, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure”
• Dec 18, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Dec 18, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote”
• Mar 24, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2659)”
• Mar 24, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Taylor moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 5 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $2,313,301 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 35 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 72% of bills with any report.

Tracey Mann, who sponsored the bill, received $626,000 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• American Association of Airport Executives — $1,172,100 in 1 report
• Airports Council International -- North America — $775,201 in 1 report
• Air Line Pilots Association — $266,000 in 1 report
• Academy of Model Aeronautics — $100,000 in 2 reports

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• Class E airspace — Controlled airspace above uncontrolled airspace, often near airports.
• Class G airspace — Uncontrolled airspace where recreational drones were already allowed.
• recreational drone operators — People who fly drones as a hobby, not for business.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.