January 19, 2008

Culver would drop deposit increase for expansion of bottle bill
By JENNIFER JACOBS

If bottles of water, juice, sports drinks and tea were subject to the 5-cent deposit, the governor would be willing to let go of his idea for increasing the deposit for all cans and bottles to 10 cents.

"Whatever it takes," Gov. Chet Culver told reporters Friday.

Culver said Iowans agree with him when he says it is time to update the 30-year-old bottle and can redemption law, commonly called the bottle bill, to include more than just carbonated drinks and alcoholic beverages.

"Everywhere I went this week ... not one person is against expanding the bottle bill," said Culver, who pitched his budget proposals this week to residents in Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Iowa City, Ottumwa and Sioux City.

One of the centerpieces of the proposed state budget Culver unveiled Tuesday is a doubling of the bottle fee from 5 cents to 10 cents.

Those who return the empty containers would get 8 cents back. Two cents would not be refunded. One cent would go to bottle handlers or redemption centers and the other cent would be go to state environmental programs.

But Democratic and Republican lawmakers quickly expressed resistance to Culver's proposal.

Friday, after taping "Iowa Press" at Iowa Public Television, Culver said: "I want the bill to get to my desk as soon as possible. ... Whatever it takes to get it to my desk as soon as possible so that we can expand the bottle bill and at the same time protect our environment through the Resource Enhancement and Protection program, that'd be great."

About 330 million containers sold each year in Iowa are not covered by the bottle and can deposit law, Culver said.

"So I'm saying let's do what's easy," he said. "Let's expand it."

Culver's 10-cent plan would bring in an estimated $20 million for environmental programs.

Now, consumers get 5 cents back on their 5-cent deposit.

Culver wants to expand the law to apply the 5-cent deposit on more kinds of containers, as well as provide more money for environmental programs. He said he is open to lawmakers' ideas for how to do both.

Reporter Jennifer Janeczko Jacobs can be reached at (515) 284-8001 or jejacobs@dmreg.com