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In my fifteen plus years with The Outdoor Circle I have never experienced what happened to House Bill 1832 Relating to Outdoor Advertising. The bill, introduced at the urging of The Outdoor Circle, was written to limit the posting of political signs on residential properties by restricting the size and number of signs allowed.
We were excited when the bill passed Conference Committee and was scheduled for a full vote by both the House and Senate on Tuesday April 27. Both statewide newspapers, the Advertiser and Star Bulletin, supported the bill and ran editorials strongly in favor of controlling campaign signs.
At what was scheduled to be the Senate’s final floor vote, HB 1832 CD1 was passed 18-6. The legislators then recessed, caucused amongst themselves, went back into session, and voted again. Instead of passing HB 1832 they voted to send the bill back to committee, thus killing it. Later in the day the House members followed suit.
Hundreds of hours were spent working with our elected officials to make sure they understood the legislation. Sadly, our legislators decided to put their own self interests ahead of the beauty of these islands. We continue to discuss the best way to proceed. One way you can help if you feel as strongly as we do is by writing a letter to the editors of both papers stating your support for limiting campaign signs and showing disgust at how the bill was killed.
Needless to say we’re very disappointed. If you have any insights or thoughts as to how we should proceed please use this forum to let us know.
HB 1832 can be found at: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/HB1832_CD1_.htm
The section of the article in the Advertiser pertaining to HB 1832 reads as follows:
“Lawmakers in both chambers voted to shelve a bill that would have restricted political campaign signs on residential property to 4-by-2 feet and a total of 16 square feet for all signs. The bill was important to The Outdoor Circle and cleared a House and Senate conference committee last week. But support for the bill fell apart in private caucus.
The Senate at first voted to pass the bill yesterday but then reconsidered. State Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser, D-7th (Kaua’i, Ni’ihau), explained that the bill would have applied to other signs, such as advertisements for chicken sales or fan support for University of Hawai’i sports, and would have interfered with county home rule.
Hooser made a personal commitment to work with Outdoor Circle and others before next session on a new draft.”