1996-10-16                     Senate Journal                      Page 4377
SB 181                                                                       
Message of May 30 was received, stating:                                       
                                                                               
Dear President Pearce:                                                         
                                                                               
Under the authority of art. II, sec. 15 of the Alaska Constitution, I          
have vetoed the following bill:                                                
                                                                               
CS FOR SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE                                          
BILL NO. 181(FIN)                                                              
An Act relating to tourist oriented directional signs                         
that are 90 inches in width and 18 inches in height                            
and to penalties for violations related to outdoor                             
advertising.                                                                   
                                                                               
Alaska needs to be responsive to our growing visitor industry by               
providing adequate highway directions for tourist services, but we             
must also continue to protect what visitors and residents alike expect         
-- spectacular, unblemished scenery.  We have been able to maintain            
our uncluttered landscape by having one of  the strictest outdoor              
advertising laws in the country.  I do not intend to compromise  this          

1996-10-16                     Senate Journal                      Page 4378
SB 181                                                                       
important standard.  I believe we can offer adequate tourist directions        
on our highways while maintaining our envious natural beauty under             
our current highway signage program.                                           
                                                                               
The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities now has           
a policy in place to permit directional signs along highways within            
the state right-of-way.   Dozens of businesses have already taken              
advantage of the program.   I believe the right-of-way is the                  
appropriate location for any highway directional signs.  Expanding             
it beyond that limit, as this bill proposes, leads us down a path that         
Alaska has wisely avoided for decades.                                         
                                                                               
Especially troubling in this bill is the provision that would diminish         
the penalty for signs that violate state regulations.  If anything, we         
want to keep those penalties as severe as reasonable so we can                 
expect a high level of compliance.  The surest way to see a highway            
cluttered with illegal billboards is to make the penalty so mild that          
the infraction is worth the risk as just another cost of doing business.       
The current penalty is not too severe and does serve as a deterrence.          
                                                                               
At the same time that I veto this bill, I am directing the Department          
of Transportation and Public Facilities to head up a task force that           
includes our Division of Tourism and the visitor industry to develop           
a positive approach in developing regulations toward fulfilling our            
directional signage needs.                                                     
                                                                               
						Sincerely,                                                               
						/s/                                                                      
						Tony Knowles                                                             
						Governor                                                                 
                                                                               
Governor's veto sustained on June 6 (page 4326).