Legislature fails to strengthen bandit sign enforcement

By Ryan Culver, Staff Writer, The 1960 Sun

06/02/2005

The 79th legislature of the State of Texas could not pass legislation to increase the enforceability of bandit sign laws-the senate voted down HB 599, HB 2051 and vetoed HB 600 on a technicality in the early morning hours of May 26.
Bandit signs are the "trash on a stick" signs that dot the shoulder of roadways and are commonly used by homebuilders and quick weight loss scams.

They are illegal, but the local government is not able to take action against the lawbreakers. The legislature was asked to solve the problem with enforceability of these laws. HB 599 focused on the illegal off-premise signs along Texas roadways and the problems caused by unregulated off premise advertising that is visible from a roadway. Currently, the signs are regulated by TxDOT and they require a permit, but TxDOT is overwhelmed and many signs do not have permits. Residents say these unregulated signs cause visual blight to the area and they have to rely on state enforcement to remove the signs.

The new law was going to give more power for local governments to enforce these regulations. It would have added more culpable parties for prosecution-under current law only the person who actually erects the sign can be prosecuted-and it would have provided additional remedies.

Unfortunately, HB 599 could not empower the local governments because the Texas Senate voted it down 12-19. It passed the House; it made it through the senate committee, but not the final vote.

HB 2051 dealt with the scenic byways program. The scenic byways program would have allowed certain roadways be designated as scenic byways. The scenic byways would protect Texas' beautiful roadways from becoming a marketplace for out-of-control advertising. For instance, Hwy 290 could have been considered a scenic byway because of the bluebonnets that adorn it in the early spring. It would also allow for federal grant funding to help upkeep scenic byways.

Once again, this bill was not able to pass the senate. It also passed in the House and made it through the Senate committee, but they were still one vote shy of passing HB 2051. The final vote was 20-11 (only needed 21 to pass it). Texas remains the only state in the nation that doesn't have a scenic byways program.

HB 600 was designed to deal with the problems surrounding illegal signs in the public right of way. Once again, this bill was not going to change any of the existing laws, but rather increase the enforceability by local entities for these laws. It would also broaden the parties who are prosecutable; for instance the advertiser would now be prosecutable (before it was just the person who physically installed the bandit sign).

This bill was not killed by a vote because the Senate never voted on it. This bill also passed the House and the Senate committee, but the Senate at large never voted on the bill and it died by technicality at the end of the session.

For more information about the 79th legislative session of Texas, go online to www.capitol.state.tx.us/.

Stan St. Pierre, an advocate for the enforcement of bandit sign laws, said these votes were biased by misinformation in the senate. He suggested the Senators were concerned these laws would affect their campaign signs and that is the reason they voted it down. The fact is campaign signs are not applicable to these laws; and for the record, neither are legally registered signs, signs authorized by a government entity and official government signs.

"I am truly disappointed in the Senate," St. Pierre said. "When it came down to it, [some of the Senators] voted for what served them instead of their districts."

St. Pierre indicated the fight against bandit signs is nowhere close to over. "It was against the law, it still is against the law," St. Pierre said.

Texas DPS has crews that clean up bandit signs (at great cost to taxpayers), but they cannot cover every road in Texas. St. Pierre said the solution to stopping bandit signs is in the hands of the people erecting them.

"People need to tell the homebuilders to stop breaking the law," St. Pierre said. "We can already establish on every weekend that they are lawbreakers." He added, "Shall we look further into their criminal activity?"

St. Pierre said some of the homebuilders are more than willing to stop using bandit signs for their advertising. The only problem is that they will not stop until the "other guys" stop-they believe being the first one to stop gives them a competitive disadvantage.

"Many homes are sold around the country without having to place a sign every two feet saying where the next neighborhood is," St. Pierre said. "They could always advertise in The 1960 Sun right?"

Ryan Culver can be reached at rculver@hcnonline.net.