Billboard owners seem on the verge of a goal they have chased for more than a decade: the right to clear-cut state-owned roadside trees that block drivers’ view of their signs.
The bill that would do the trick, HB 179, has passed the state House of Representatives, where it got stuck in years past. It is expected to go to a vote Tuesday on the Senate floor, where past versions have succeeded.
It's been a long, hard road to get this far. So what did it take?
From all appearances, a combination: relentless lobbying year after year, a narrower bill, a lousy economy that bolsters arguments for jobs. And not to mention, a very big pile of cash.
In the 2010 election cycle alone, billboard companies, their industry organization and individuals associated with them spent more than $200,000 on state candidates and elected officials, according to an analysis of campaign contributions and lobbying reports by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
It wasn’t just election cash -- though that rang in at at least $148,000, on par with the industry's spending in the previous election cycle, according to records. With contributions of goods or services of at least $49,000, some candidates also got much-needed campaign billboard time. And then there's the lobbying spending. Last fall, some went to a billboard-industry-funded $22,500 golf outing at Reynolds Plantation, a Ritz-Carlton resort.
But that's not what won votes, said Conner Poe, executive director of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Georgia, a billboard advocacy group.
Indeed, the industry gave thousands of dollars to representatives who voted against HB 179. It won "yes" votes from many who got no donations.
What the money did indisputably, however, was give the industry a platform. "What's changed is the fact the bill is so different than it has been in the past," Poe said.
In previous years, billboard legislation tried to trump local ordinances. This year's bill appeases local governments, assuring them that local sign ordinances remain in control.
There were changes in the political landscape, too. It's not the first time the billboard industry has argued that jobs are at stake -- the 300,000 jobs they estimate are currently in businesses that advertise on billboards. But three years of a bad economy takes its toll.
Opponents of the bill -- including the Garden Club of Georgia, Scenic Georgia and Trees Columbus, among others -- doubt the jobs argument.
“It's still pretty much a bill to benefit the advertisers and cut trees belonging to the people of Georgia," said Mary Lovings, who represents the Garden Club.
Another factor in the turnaround has been that this year's House has a sizable freshman class, 37 lawmakers with no history in the decades-long legal and legislative brawl over billboards and trees. Some said they heard from billboard lobbyists -- and opponents -- before they even took office.
Of the House freshmen, 22 voted in favor of the bill, eight of them reversing their predecessor's opposition to billboard companies in 2009, the last time a bill came up.
Among veterans, 19 members of the House switched their no votes from 2009, for a host of reasons.
Rep. Donna Sheldon, R-Dacula, got excused from voting on the billboard bill in 2009. She said she voted for HB 179 for one reason: It was a better bill.
While she went to the Reynolds Plantation conference last fall where she learned about other states' regulations -- and met Vince Dooley -- she said she doesn't play golf and it had nothing to do with changing her vote. “The amendment had everything to do with changing my vote,” she said.
The House amended HB 179 to raise the application fees billboard companies pay for permits so that they would fully fund the state’s cost of regulating them.
Rep. Billy Mitchell, D-Stone Mountain, said the jobs argument convinced him. Like all legislators interviewed, he said his vote was not related to the campaign money he received. He was among at least eight members of the Black Caucus who flipped from opposing the bill in the past to supporting it this year.
The bill passed the 180-member House by 98-69. When the House considered a version in 2009, 74 representatives voted for it, and 89 voted against it.
Mitchell earned a perfect score from the Georgia Conservation Voters last year. He insisted he remained committed to that cause but was more concerned with jobs this time around.
House Judiciary Chairman Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, voted against HB 179, saying he thinks it illegally gives away too much.
“There are plenty of billboards, and we’re not denying anyone’s ability to advertise a business by not wanting them to cut down any more trees,” Willard said. He also said he is concerned about the amount of money the billboard industry has spent on the battle.
Poe insists the environmentalists have "tremendous resources," too. He points out the Garden Club's 12,000 members, who receive e-mails asking them to advocate against the bill, and he notes that Trees Columbus hired a contract lobbyist.
Dorothy McDaniel, executive director of Trees Columbus, laughed at that notion. "I wish we had tremendous resources," she said. Trees Columbus issued a mailer and a robo-call advocating against the bill, which she said cost about $3,300 altogether.
The staff members of some environmental groups said they work for free to oppose HB 179. Others are compensated, but generally these groups’ lobbying spending pales in comparison with the billboard lobbyists’.
Many of the environmental groups are charities not legally allowed to make campaign donations. A search for campaign donations in the 2010 cycle from opponents of the bill turned up three donations totaling $2,490 in cash and contributions of goods or services.
In addition, not all of the billboard spending is lobbying, Poe said. While he spent more than $500 in early January on a dinner that included House Speaker David Ralston, no legislation was discussed, he said. "It was just friends getting together and having dinner," he said.
The bill unanimously passed the Senate Transportation Committee on Thursday, chaired by Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, who received $1,500 from the industry this election cycle. It is expected to hit the Senate floor soon, overseen by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who got $7,400 worth of campaign billboards. If passed in the Senate without changes, it would go to the desk of Gov. Nathan Deal. He has received $13,200 in contributions from the industry.
A spokesman for Deal, Brian Robinson, said Deal would not comment on pending legislation.
William Perry, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, said the money concerned him. "Obviously campaign contributions influence how people think, as do the gifts. No one can say the dinners and gifts of golf to influence votes don't create a legislative lifestyle that many members cling to and enjoy."
Current law vs. HB 179
Current law: Billboard owners are allowed to cut hardwoods that are less than 8 inches in diameter near the base and pines less than 12 inches in diameter near the base. The tallest ones are off limits.
House Bill 179: It would allow the owners to cut all trees, except ones that the government has designated as historic or part of a permitted beautification program that won't obstruct the sign. The companies would pay the state for the lost trees, but they would get credits, up to a limit, for taking down obsolete billboards elsewhere.
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