Testimony Heard on Billboard Legislation

Intro:	Missouri drivers will not see billboards go away anytime soon with a proposed Senate bill.
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Wrap: The bill will allow the Missouri Department of Transportation to only pay for replacement of signs in future construction zones.

Current law requires MoDOT to pay for removal and replacement of advertisements.

Jefferson City Republican Senator Mike Kehoe says the measure will not remove all signs...

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Description: I wouldn't want anybody to think this would be a massive reduction in the billboards they see today. Basically, this is a bill that would allow MoDOT to relocate existing billboards when they put through a new section of highway.

The bill would not immediately reduce billboards.

Still... Scenic Missouri Executive Director John Regenbogen says the billboards are turning tourists off to Missouri travel.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Cole Karr.

Intro:	A bill in the Missouri Senate will slash some transportation construction costs.
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Wrap: Current law does not allow the Department of Transportation to move billboards not meeting state standards... or built too close together.

The bill will temporarily allow an exception of standards to those billboards and allow the department to move signs, rather than pay for their reconstruction.

Missouri Outdoor Advertising Association Executive Director Bill May says the changes make sense for taxpayers.

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Description: Billboards that can be relocated, MoDOT would save 80 to 90 percent of what their normal construction costs would be under the current law were they have to buy those billboards.

However, Scenic Missouri Executive Director John Regenbogen says billboards are still an intrusion. He would like to see policies that do more than replace billboards protections.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Cole Karr

Intro:	A Missouri organization is worried about unintended consequences in a Missouri Senate bill to ease billboard pollution.
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Wrap: One critic of a bill to allow relocation of billboards in new construction zones says future sign reduction could lead to an increase in digital billboards.

Scenic Missouri is an organization pushing to reduce the overall number of billboards.

Executive Director John Regenbogen says digital billboards are bright, have a lot of content and lead to distracted drivers.

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Description: We are very concerned about the safety implications of allowing 100s of these digital billboards to pop up across Missouri.

Napton Republican Senator Bill Stouffer says digital billboards are a good idea and would considerably reduce the number of billboards.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Cole Karr.