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A bill that would have allowed advertisements on the sides of school buses appears to be dead for this session, even though most Utahns say they like the idea.
The bill didn't get out of committee.
"It's not completely dead but it's mostly dead," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Jim Bird, R-West Jordan. He still would like to see the bill go somewhere this session if not next year.
"It's an idea I think whose time has come," he said.
A Dan Jones poll for KSL showed 65 percent of Utahns definitely or probably think ads on the sides of school buses is a good idea. Bird points out that ads are on UTA buses, and he was working to address concerns of distraction and safety.
"We had an amendment that would have taken care of some of the safety issues," he explained. "I didn't want any signs on the back of buses because I didn't want anything between those blinking red lights that say ‘Stop.'"
Bird says the revenue would have meant a half-million dollars, and school districts would have had the discretion of picking which ads were allowed.
Bird said in Friday's committee hearing lawmakers asked if nothing was sacred anymore.
"Well, as you walk into a gym of any high school, there are signs everywhere," he pointed out. "'Buy your hot dogs from this company' or ‘Get your insurance from that company.' Coke machines, vending machines everywhere throughout the schools."
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
