Of Vetoes, Votes & Verisimilitude

Alaska Star Article for 5-8-97

The flap over the new directional sign bill is surprising. The new law simply allows signs on private property that are the same size as existing signs. Each new sign must go through a rigorous permitting process and have the approval of the Department of Transportation. These are the same requirements as the existing signs on highway Rights-of Way.

The disproportionate reaction only makes sense to me as a part of the governor's next campaign. Governor Knowles appears to be attempting to get back into the good graces of the environmental lobby in order to preclude the Green Party from running a viable candidate against him.

The directional signs on private land were requested by Alaska's growing tourist industry along with several Chambers of Commerce. In response to the public outcry and some of the state's major print media onto the Governor's campaign bandwagon, the legislature will probably pass a new bill prohibiting billboards along our highways.

Parental Consent and Partial-Birth Infanticide

Alaska has had a law requiring minor girls to get a parents consent before aborting a child since 1970. The law needed a way for the minor girl to get court permission if her parents were abusive or if they might not act in her best interests or if incest was involved. Now, our governor has vetoed the provision to bypass the abusing parent!! The legislature has overridden the Governor's veto and, in the process, strengthened families and supported the principle that our children will not be operated on without parental involvement.

The so-called partial birth abortion is an outrageous procedure that the American Medical Association has called absolutely unnecessary. In recent testimony before the US Congress, Mr. Ron Fitzsimmons of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers admitted he had lied. He stated that thousands of perfectly healthy perfectly healthy late term children are "terminated" for reasons unrelated to the mother's health.

Governor Knowles' veto appears to be a nod to the extreme elements of the pro-abortion movement in order to keep them on his side for the next election.

If your have any comments or questions regarding these issues, please feel free to contact me at my Juneau office at (800) 342-2199 or (907) 465-2199; by mail at State Capitol Building, Room 428, Juneau, AK 99801; or via the Internet at

Representative_Fred_Dyson@legis.state.ak.us

You can also send us information via the Public Opinion Message System (POMS) by calling the Legislative Information Office at 258-8111 (TTY 258-8173).