The proposed billboard ban was placed on the ballot through a citizens' initiative that collected over 36,000 petitions through an all-volunteer effort. It is the only initiative effort that did not use paid signature collectors. Given the worthy nature of their work, volunteers found a receptive audience for this measure, whose purpose is two-fold. First, the initiative repeals an ill-conceived law. That statute, passed in 1997 and sponsored by Sen. Lyda Green of Wasilla, created a new class of outdoor-advertising signs that can be placed near state highways.
Critics rightly worry that the legislation opens the door to full-fledged billboards.
This explicit language is necessary because current state law does not expressly forbid or define billboards. As it is, and for the first time, the Green bill allows off-road businesses to rent space on private property alongside state highways for sign placement. And with enabling legislation already in place, advocates of larger signs will have an easier time pushing for favorable changes through legislative amendments. Only three other states besides Alaska are billboard-free. Imagine the special-interest furor that would unfold if, one by one, each of the 46 states proposed to ban billboards.