Editorial

Mr. Amann's Vaunted `Process'

House Speaker James Amann has a pretty skewed notion of process.

Late last week, Mr. Amann tried to defend the mugging a House committee gave legislation that would expand the state's bottle recycling law to containers of noncarbonated beverages. The bill passed the Senate and had moved to the House, where it was defeated by a 13-4 vote of the general law committee May 16.

Senate supporters are trying to resurrect the legislation. But Mr. Amann, a longtime opponent of such legislation, pronounced it dead.

"We're not debating the bottle bill. It died," he said. "There's a process. We live and die by the process. It's dead ... Right now, that thing is dead."

We're uncertain as to what process Mr. Amann is talking about. Could it be the sanctity of back-room deals between a few powerful legislators, special interests and their lobbyists? After all, the general law committee's co-chairman, state Rep. Christopher R. Stone, is from East Hartford, home to a Coca-Cola bottling plant, and is longtime opponent of the bill.

Nor would it be the first time a proposal for an expanded bottle bill became a casualty of special interests. Two years ago, the defeat of a similar bill became a rallying cry for campaign reform. The statewide advocacy group Connecticut Common Cause calculated at the time that the bottling industry and its representatives had shelled out $704,722 in political contributions during the preceding four years to seal the fate of such legislation.

This should be the year a new and expanded bottle bill gets approved. This legislation is timely and important. Getting consumers to plunk down a 5-cent refundable deposit on recyclable glass, aluminum and plastic containers will build upon the long-term success of the bottle law for reducing litter and waste, and for conserving energy and resources.

Fortunately, supporters are looking into ways to get the legislation to the House floor for debate. "If this bill were to be brought up [before the entire House], it would pass overwhelmingly," said Sen. Bill Finch, a Bridgeport Democrat and one of the chief sponsors.

Hmm. Open, rigorous debate on the merits of legislation? It sounds like democracy. Now, that's a process we can support. We hope Mr. Amann's report of the death of this bill will prove to have been greatly exaggerated.

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