February 13, 2008

Bottle bill expansion still faces opposition
THOMAS BEAUMONT

Gov. Chet Culver’s plan to expand Iowa’s bottle-return law continues to face an uphill climb, despite his reassurance to grocers today that he’s willing to keep the nickel deposit intact.

Culver said he could settle for keeping the deposit at a nickel, as long as lawmakers agree to add to the list of beverage container types now included under the 30-year-old law.

Culver, a Democrat, had proposed raising the deposit to 10 cents and adding containers for water, sports drinks and fruit juice. Each year, 330 million of these drink containers are sold in Iowa.

He originally had recommended that consumers get only 8 cents of the higher deposit back when containers were returned. The state would keep 2 cents, to be split between an environmental program and helping grocery stores and redemption centers. However, the idea was attacked by opponents as a tax increase.

“I’ve listened to the people of Iowa, my constituents,” Culver told about 300 grocery store executives at the Iowa Association of Grocery Industries legislative conference in Des Moines. “They’ve made it pretty clear that when we expand the bottle bill they expect their full deposit back, whether it’s a nickel or a dime. And I agree with them.”

Culver said today he remained open to upping the deposit to a dime, but was also willing to keep it at a nickel.

Representatives of Wal-Mart, 70 of whom attended the meeting in Des Moines, said they remain opposed to expanding the bottle law, which they say would simply make more drinks more expensive.

“Our customers are going to face that added tax on buying the product,” said

Wal-Mart spokesman Ryan Horn. “The economic health of our customers, that’s what we’re concerned about.”

Leaders in the Democrat-controlled Legislature declined to comment on Culver’s proposal.

“Our senators continue to work on ways for us to have a cleaner environment,” Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs said in a statement.

Culver said he remained committed to spending $20 million on the Iowa Resource and Enhancement Program, which he had hoped the penny from the higher deposit would cover.

Culver said he would now begin talks with legislative leaders, industry and environmental groups about a funding source.

Likewise, Culver planned to begin discussing how to help grocers and container redemption center operators pay for costs they would incur to process the additional bottles.

“We look forward to coming up with some consensus,” Culver told reporters after addressing the conference. “And exactly what that looks like at this point is unclear, but the good news is we’re having the discussion.”