Louisiana Governor Vetoes Album-Warning Proposal : Pop music: The bill would have required cautionary labels on records with ‘offensive’ lyrics. The recording industry and Parents Music Resource Center applaud the move.

The governor of Louisiana vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have made his state the first to require albums with potentially offensive lyrics to carry warning stickers.

Gov. Buddy Roemer, who also recently vetoed the nation’s most restrictive abortion bill, announced his decision at a news conference at the Capitol in Baton Rouge attended by a cross-section of representatives from the recording industry and the head of the Parents Music Resource Center.

“While I agree with the authors of this bill concerning the need to inform parents of the content of records purchased by youngsters,” Roemer said. “The best method of informing the public is through voluntary compliance within industry standards, similar to what the movie industry has done with success.”

In recent weeks, a broad coalition of industry organizations, retailers, concert promoters and recording artists mounted a massive campaign to defeat the pending legislation, vowing legal and economic retaliation. Among performers who reportedly petitioned the governor were Ray Charles, Dr. John, Elton John and Judas Priest.

Roemer said that threatened economic boycotts had not affected his decision. He vetoed the bill, he said, because he believed it was an infringement on constitutionally protected free speech and would be subject to lengthy court battles.

The governor said he believed that the voluntary labeling plan adopted in May by the recording industry was sincere and hoped it would be successful. Under the plan designed by the Recording Industry Assn. of America, which represents most of the country’s major record labels, all association members have agreed to sticker explicit albums with a standardized black and white sticker reading: “Parental Advisory--Explicit Lyrics.”

Roemer warned, however, that if the current industry plan fails to address the state’s concerns regarding explicit lyrics, the record labeling controversy is bound to resurface in Louisiana.

“This issue will not go away,” he said.

Jay Berman, president of the recording association, applauded the governor at the news conference: “Gov. Roemer’s veto is a vote of confidence for parents. Parents who have the right and the responsibility to raise their children as they see fit.”

Mike Greene, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, told The Times after his appearance at the session that the veto was a bold move: “I felt is was a very courageous political decision. The extreme polarization that would have taken place in the state of Louisiana, had he signed this bill, would have been devastating.”

Tipper Gore, president of the Parents Music Resource Center, said at the news conference that her group also supported Roemer’s veto: “We all recognize the concern to protect children from violent ad explicit messages. But we don’t want government to legislate that concern. We need parents committed to their children, concerned enough to be aware and get involved.”

Ironically, sponsors of the bill in the Senate used a film about “offensive” rock music produced by the resource center and read excerpts from “offensive” lyrics provided by Gore’s group to woo the votes of undecided senators.

The legislation, which passed the Senate on July 6 and was approved by the House of Representatives on July 7, targeted lyrics that advocate or encourage sex, substance abuse, violence and other subjects “potentially harmful to minors.”

Under the vetoed bill, retailers, distributors and manufacturers selling a labeled recording to an “unmarried person under the age of 17” could have been fined up to $1,000 and jailed up to six months. The sale of unlabeled albums to minors could have brought fines up to $5,000 for producers as well as manufacturers.

The Legislature adjourned July 9 and is not scheduled to return until April. A special legislative session would have to be called to override Roemer’s veto.

State Rep. Ted Haik, the bill’s author, could not be reached for comment.