Arizona's digital highway messages won't be reined in

PHOENIX — Gov. Katie Hobbs declined Wednesday to limit the digital signs above and adjacent to state roads to only traffic safety messages.

In wielding her veto stamp again, the Democratic governor said she did not agree it’s inappropriate to display anything beyond warnings about crashes ahead, driving times to certain points, and general “drive safe’’ advisories. House Bill 2586 sought to limit messages to those “directly related to transportation or highway safety,’’ with the sponsor calling anything else “a little bit distracting.’’

Bill sponsor Rep. Neal Carter, a San Tan Valley Republican, was concerned the signs could also be used to promote other messages.

Exhibit No. 1 was a decision two years ago to have signs spell out the message, “Want to return to normal? Get vaccinated.’’

Republican Doug Ducey, who was governor at the time, defended that message as appropriate.

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which is the guidebook for all devices and signs on roads, allows “homeland security messages,” Ducey’s press aide C.J. Karamargin said at the time. The president had declared a national emergency due to the pandemic, he noted.

Carter’s bill would have precluded such messaging. Also gone would have been signs advising motorists of “no burn’’ days during periods of high pollution. So, too, would have been messages the Arizona Department of Transportation now posts for state and national parks as well as those by the U.S. Forest Service related to wildfires.

And there no longer would have been signs, usually displayed on the day a police officer or firefighter who died in the line of duty was buried, saying “rest in peace’’ with the officer’s name.

Hobbs said she sees no need for additional restrictions.

Other vetoes

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

She also vetoed three other measures Wednesday, bringing her total this legislative session to 29.

She rejected HB2535, which would have limited the ability of cities that annex unincorporated areas to regulate private wells already there.

“Prohibiting a municipality form requiring even the most basic of safety standards and regulations for groundwater wells threatens the safety and quality of drinking water that public utilities provide to residents and businesses throughout Arizona,’’ Hobbs wrote, saying these could impact “our precious drinking water.’’

Also meeting the governor’s displeasure was HB2437.

Current laws require approval of the Power and Line Siting Committee any time a new transmission line is planned. The measure would have said that isn’t necessary if the line is being placed on property owned by at least one owner of the proposed line.

Hobbs said it would exempt an unknown number of projects “while having an uncertain impact on electric generation or Arizona’s overall power grid.’’

Finally, she said there is no reason for HB2477.

Written by Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, it had no legal effect. Instead, it expressed the opinion of the Republican majority in the Legislature that the Electoral College is the best way of selecting the president because it involves all parts of the country in the process.

Hobbs said if lawmakers want to express their preferences they could do that with a simple resolution, not something put into state statutes.

She also pointed out that some of the GOP lawmakers who voted for the measure, including Sen. J.D. Mesnard of Chandler, previously supported moving to a system where the outcome of presidential elections would be determined by who won the national popular vote.

Photos: 15+ clever freeway signs aimed at keeping Arizona drivers safe