Posted by Debbie Neustadt

The governors press release mentions the bottle bill.

For Immediate Release
For More Information
Tuesday, May 08, 2001
Joe Shannahan, 515-281-0173

Statement by Governor Vilsack after adjournment of the
 2001 regular session of Iowa Legislature

DES MOINES - Governor Tom Vilsack issued this statement today after the
Legislature adjourned for the 2001 regular session:

"I am deeply disappointed in lawmakers' efforts this year.  This
legislature
turned their back on Iowans.  For three and one half months, they did
very
little.  Then when their money ran out and the going got tough, they
quit.

They passed an "all pain, no gain" budget that will cause hardship for
people and families across our state.  For children oppressed by
violence
and abuse, they provided no funding.  For rural residents losing their
jobs,
they closed 55 workforce development offices.

The only saving grace in this budget was that they finally, after much
prodding, made good on their promise to Iowa's schoolchildren to upgrade

teacher pay and training to boost student achievement.  That will profit

those children-and Iowa's future-for years and years to come.

We've heard the legislature's excuse for its nonperformance: There
wasn't
any money.  But it wouldn't have cost the state a dime to increase the
minimum wage for 100,000 working Iowans.  It wouldn't have cost a dime
to
expand the bottle bill to protect our environment, or to save lives by
lowering the threshold for drunken driving to .08, or to guarantee
access to
mental health treatment by passing a parity bill.  Yet they accomplished

none of these things.

This legislature couldn't even agree to a bill that would outlaw lying
in
political campaigns.  Given that they'll have to explain this
legislative
session, they ought to be more afraid of the truth."

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