In explaining her veto of House Bill 2369, the governor argued on behalf of cities and towns that have asked for local control in dealing with sign walkers. They have become more common in recent years, trolling along busy roadways and intersections, with signs advertising car dealers and clearance sales bouncing in their hands.

In a letter explaining her veto, however, Napolitano said "sign walkers can pose safety hazards," and that municipal leaders "must retain the regulatory flexibility to ensure the safety of their residents."

She also nixed Senate Bill 1228. It would have mandated that only the state's highest-risk sex offenders - Level 3s - be tracked by global positioning system devices while on probation. Lower level offenders could be tracked, at a judge's discretion.

In vetoing the bill, Napolitano said she is not prepared to limit GPS monitoring to just Level 3 offenders. Also Monday, she signed a measure, SB 1231, to continue the action of a study committee looking into the issue of GPS monitoring for those who commit crimes against children.

Said Napolitano, "I am not prepared to narrow the category of child predators subject to GPS monitoring until the work of this committee is complete and I'm presented with more compelling evidence that doing so will not harm Arizona children."

But SB 1228 sponsor Rep. Jim Waring, R-Phoenix, called his proposal "good public policy," and said limited state funding forced him to limit the pool of offenders subject to tracking.

The state has $1.5 million a year to monitor sex offenders who commit dangerous crimes against children, he said. Without more funding, he warned, "we are going to run out of money at some point, and some real bad guy is going to be out of the program."

With her signing of another sex offender bill, HB 2734, Napolitano required that registered sex offenders notify law enforcement of any screen names and e-mail addresses that they use online, as well as any Web sites where those identifiers are used. The bill is intended to keep better track of sex offenders online.

MOBILE NEWS Get the latest news, weather updates and live traffic conditions on your phone or PDA. Visit mobile.azcentral.com on your device, or enter your mobile number and we'll send you a link.

This is cache, read story here