May 13, 2013
by John Hickey, Chapter Director
In May 2011, the Missouri General Assembly passed House Bill 430 (HB 430), which would have allowed even more billboards in our state. Specifically, HB 430 would have meant:
• more and larger billboards.
• more electric billboards, which use
as much power as 30 homes.
• more visual pollution obscuring
our beautiful state.
The Missouri Sierra Club asked Governor Jay Nixon to veto this bill, which he did do in July. But that was only step one, since the Legislature could override his veto at the Veto Session on September 14th.
So, we mobilized our membership across the state, and 315 Sierra Club members sent emails to their state representative, asking their legislator to sustain the veto of HB 430.
When the showdown happened, the State House declined to even attempt to override Governor Nixon’s veto. The billboard industry simply did not have the votes. Many of the legislators who had initially voted for HB 430 were now opposing it.
This shows what Sierra Club members can do when we mobilize on a statewide basis!