March 27, 2008 Bottle bill proposal receives reprieveBy JASON CLAYWORTHREGISTER STAFF WRITER Gov. Chet Culver's plan to expand Iowa's 5-cent bottle redemption law received a temporary reprieve Wednesday, soon after some lawmakers announced it was unlikely to survive this week's legislative deadline.Ordinarily, House File 2537 would need to pass out of the House and a committee in the Senate by Friday's "funnel" deadline to remain eligible for further consideration this year. Culver has vowed to fight for the plan, but it doesn't have the votes needed to pass the House, a few lawmakers said Wednesday.After a meeting with the governor, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced that the bill will be sent to the House Appropriations Committee, whose bills are exempt from the deadline."I don't know if we can accomplish it, but we are going to make a good-faith run to expand the bottle bill this year," McCarthy said. Before McCarthy's actions, lawmakers took steps Wednesday to set up a task force to study the idea for another year, along with a plan to create a statewide recycling program. That action is a backup plan if House File 2537 fails, they said."Each day this week that goes by, we get further and further from the possibility of that passing," Rep. Donovan Olson, a Boone Democrat and chairman of the House Environmental Protection Committee, said of House File 2537. Polls have shown that a majority of Iowans favor extending Iowa's 5-cent deposit to containers for water, juice, sports drinks and tea. The present law covers most alcoholic beverages and carbonated soft drinks.Lobbyists for some grocery stores and bottling companies have fought for decades to keep such an expansion at bay.Those groups have a number of concerns including sanitation or financial issues. They have said expansion of curbside recycling, not the bottle bill, is the answer. Democrats hold 53 of the 100 seats in the House. While the majority of his party supports the bill's expansion, Olson estimates he needs at least a dozen House Republicans to support the idea before it could pass."I don't think I'm anywhere near that," Olson said.Lawmakers in the House Wednesday added a provision to House File 2570, another environmental proposal, to create a special task force that would make recommendations to lawmakers about recycling, including on Iowa's bottle bill. Reporter Jason Clayworth can be reached at (515) 699-7058 or [log in to unmask] Merle Hay Road, Suite 280 Des Moines, IA 50310 [log in to unmask] 515-277-8868 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/