In a 94-21 vote last week, Mississippi House members voted to allow advertising on school buses as a measure to offset some of the state's budget belt-tightening, reports The Sun Herald. The bill imposes some restriction on the types of ads that would be allowed. Ads for alcohol, tobacco, junk food, and political and religious causes are banned.
The Sun Herald spoke to Sen. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, who has two children in public schools. According to Yancey:
[A]dvertising is already prevalent on schools' football and baseball fields, but no one is forced to go to those places. Many children who ride buses to and from school have no other choice.
"In a way, I would want to insulate them from groups that would want to target them as consumers in a place that is totally without parental supervision," Yancey said.
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