BOSTON — The House was nearly unanimous in its support Wednesday for a ban on weaponized robots and restrictions on police use of drones to conduct surveillance on citizens with reasonable expectations of privacy.
Similar legislation has been filed every session since 2017, including by Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton.
“This bill addresses one of the defining questions of our time. How do we ensure that rapid technological advancement remains anchored to human values and civil rights,” Sabadosa said. “The pace of innovation today is extraordinary. Every week seems to bring another breakthrough, another machine capable of doing what once seemed impossible. And here in Massachusetts, we are hoping to shape that future. Our universities, our researchers, our entrepreneurs, and our robotics companies are leading the world in innovation … but innovation also brings responsibility, because every powerful technology carries with it the possibility of misuse.”
Rep. Michael Day, the Judiciary Committee chairman who introduced the bill on the floor, said it was time for the House to pass the measure because “unlike the federal government and many of our sister states, we in Massachusetts don’t wait for tragedy to occur when we see that a threat to the safety of our residents is real.”
“Tools of modern technology are used today for good and evil alike. Technology has grown our shared knowledge to allow us to explore the stars of space, as well as the depths of sea. Advances in science — and yes, in Massachusetts, we still follow the science — has increased lifespans by decades. Yet technology has too often been misused and abused in the degradation and destruction of human life, to profit the few at the expense of many, to introduce new societal harms that our parents could never even fathom,” Day said. “Once the stuff of science fiction, unmanned drones and robots have now dominated military theaters throughout the world.”
Day said a Tennessee man was apprehended while he was preparing to use a drone bomb to attack an energy substation in November 2024, and this month, an Arizona teenager was sentenced to prison for having planned to detonate an explosive attached to a drone at a Phoenix pride parade.
The bill (H 5444) would ban anyone in Massachusetts from manufacturing, selling, possessing or operating a robotic device equipped with a weapon, including firearms, explosives and chemical agents. It would also prohibit the use of robotic devices to threaten, harass or physically restrain people.
Violators would face mandatory prison sentences of between 18 months and five years, with tougher penalties for repeat offenses. Exemptions would apply to the U.S. military, the Massachusetts National Guard and some defense contractors, along with limited attorney general-approved waivers for research, education or entertainment.
Police would still be able to use weaponized robots for bomb disposal or imminent threats, but would be required to obtain a warrant to use a drone on private property or to conduct surveillance or location tracking. Day said that a warrant would be required to send a drone or robot into any situation that would require a warrant for physical entry.
The legislation is based on bills filed by Sabadosa and Rep. Michael Finn of West Springfield (H 1688).
The House passed the bill on a 155-1 vote. Republican Rep. John Gaskey of Carver was the only vote of dissent, and he did not speak to the bill on the floor.
Gaskey was similarly the only representative to vote in opposition to a bill (H 5441) that would mandate the screening of newborns for congenital cytomegalovirus, or cCMV, a common virus that can cause hearing loss, developmental delays and other serious health problems in newborns. Gaskey offered an amendment that would have allowed parents to opt out of the screening, which was rejected on a 1-153 vote. He said the bill was “a little bit over the top.”
“The top-down mandates for doing testing like this is against the natural parental rights, and goes against one of the first decisions that parents can make for their children,” Gaskey said.
Representatives were unanimous in their support for a bill (H 5443) to increase access to epinephrine auto-injectors such as EpiPens. It allows trained employees at businesses and organizations — including restaurants, summer camps, sports leagues, colleges and arenas — to carry and administer epinephrine during allergic emergencies, even if the person experiencing anaphylaxis does not have a prescription.
Rep. Thomas Moakley of Falmouth said the legislation was inspired by a constituent who advocated for the change after her husband died after he was stung by a wasp at a golf tournament and there was no epinephrine on hand to be administered.
The House on Wednesday also passed bills to create a blue envelope program to improve interactions between police and autistic drivers (H 5438), and to establish Blue Star license plates for families who have lost loved ones in the line of duty (H 5439).