June 6, 2007
Bell tolls for bills on gas prices, bottle deposit
By Brian Lockhart
HARTFORD -With hours left in the legislative session, time has about run out on efforts to abolish gasoline zone pricing and expand the state's deposit law to water bottles.
Legislators from Fairfield County had been working to pass both bills this session.
The zone pricing ban would require oil companies to charge the same wholesale price to gas station owners statewide.
Proponents said the ban could lower prices at the pump. But opponents cited a $40,000 Quinnipiac University study, funded by oil industry lobbyists, which concluded the ban would hike prices everywhere except Fairfield County.
The legislation was voted down in the General Law Committee in March.
It was revived last week in the Senate, where Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, a Stamford Republican, broke an 18-18 tie in favor of the ban.
House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, said yesterday the bill still could be raised for a vote in the House, but it did not have enough support to pass.
Some supporters, like state Rep. Chris Perone, D-Norwalk, doubted it would end up on today's agenda.
"Between health care and the budget, the chances of it being taken up are not very good because of the time crunch," Perone said.
The session ends at midnight, although a special session is expected to be scheduled to finalize the state budget.
State Rep. James Shapiro, D-Stamford, another backer of the zone pricing ban, agreed.
"They don't have the votes to pass it, and it's a 'talker,' " he said, meaning the bill would spur a time-consuming debate.
Freshman state Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, had in recent weeks been working behind the scenes to convince General Law Co-chairman Rep. Christopher Stone, D-East Hartford, to support the ban. Stone has opposed tinkering with zone pricing and helped defeat the legislation in this and prior sessions.
Stone last night said he and Tong were talking, but said Tong had not convinced him to back a ban.
Tong said he plans to continue efforts to obtain the data the oil companies provided Quinnipiac for the study. The legislature has been unable to obtain the information, and many, including Tong, have called the study junk science.
"That study was a setback," Tong said last night. "Getting people the right information and making our case again on this important issue is going to take time."
A bill expanding the state's bottle redemption program to water, juices, flavored teas and energy drinks also began the session with plenty of momentum and the support of the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
But intense lobbying by some beverage companies such as Coca-Cola and supermarkets like Stop & Shop helped kill the bill in the General Law Committee late last month.
Stop & Shop in particular has been using in-store announcements to encourage customers to oppose the legislation.
Like zone pricing, expanding the bottle bill has been on the legislature's agenda for several sessions.
In recent days, state Sen. William Finch, D-Bridgeport, and state Rep. Richard Roy, D-Milford, co-chairmen of the Environment Committee, had been working to craft a compromise bill that would have expanded the 5-cent deposit only to bottled water.
But both lawmakers last night said they could not reach a last-minute deal that would sway opponents.
Roy said that like zone pricing, there is no time today to bring up the bill for a vote.
"That would have required a long floor debate that, at this stage of the session, can be difficult," Roy said.
Finch called it "disappointing" and said it was hard to overcome Stone's opposition.
Stone's hometown of East Hartford is home to a Coca-Cola bottling plant.
Stone last night said that it was Coca-Cola that offered to support a bill limited to bottled water.
"But I think time is our biggest enemy," Stone said. "And I have an obligation, as chairman (of General Law) to defend the vote of my committee."
Deputy Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, has become one of the expanded bottle bill's biggest supporters after opposing it in previous sessions.
McKinney last night said he was disappointed it had died, but added he would not have supported a compromise limiting the law to water bottles.
"No one could explain the argument for expanding it for some drinks and not others," McKinney said.
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.dead.bills2jun06,0,1396088.story?page=2&coll=stam-news-local-headlines
