South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden is one of around 30 governors who wrote to U.S. Congressional leaders urging them to take action against Unmanned Aircraft Systems that pose an increased threat against our nation’s critical infrastructure and public safety.
In the letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (Sept. 10, 2025), the Governors specifically urged Congress to:
- Enact legislation that strengthens and clarifies the coordination between federal and state authorities, enhancing states’ capacity to detect and mitigate UAS threats; and
- Grant states explicit legal authority, similar to that of the federal government, to detect and mitigate UAS threats.
The Governors said while the use of drones have proven valuable to governments for a wide variety of purposes, these systems are also increasingly being used for things like espionage, stalking and other kinds of attacks. They said more must be done to ensure states have the express legal authority and capability to detect and mitigate drone activity over critical infrastructure and major events.
Rhoden was joined in signing the letter by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, American Samoa Governor Pulaali’i Nikolao Pula, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Vermont Governor Phil Scott, U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.
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