Post Katrina Billboards

Probably the least missed things, that were destroyed by hurricaine Katrina, were the local billboards, but a Republican senator wanted to make sure even the illegal ones (oversized, poorly located) got a second chance. From the Christian Science Monitor article:

Sen. Bob Bennett (R) of Utah attached an amendment to a federal appropriations bill that would have allowed the reconstruction of nonconforming billboards in 13 states affected by recent hurricanes.

He said the idea was to help more than just affected citizens, but struggling businesses as well. The amendment, which was stripped out of the final bill, would have allowed those 13 states to determine how to handle nonconforming billboards - instead of having federal law determine their outcome, says Ken Klein, executive vice president of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America in Washington.

On the bright side there are nearly 1,500 communities which have banned construction of new billboards and 4 states that prohibit them alltogether (Alaska, Maine, Hawaii, Vermont).

Read the entire article here.