April 9, 2011
A reminder of her father’s legacy
State Rep. Vicki Berger, R-Salem, walks through some of the same halls her father did four decades earlier, when he attempted to persuade lawmakers to require a 5-cent deposit on bottles and cans to reduce littering.
It’s plastic instead of glass, and aluminum instead of steel, since Richard Chambers’ original pursuit of legislation in 1969 and 1971.
But sitting on a shelf in Rep. Berger’s fourth-floor office in the House wing of the Capitol — the wings were built in 1975 and 1976 — is a yellowing copy of the third-reading calendar for June 1, 1971. (For the novice, a bill is read for the first time when it is introduced in the chamber; the second time, after it is reported out by a committee; the third time, when the chamber votes on it.)
The calendar lists House Bill 1036 — today, that number would denote a Senate bill — and its history during that session. The final House vote sent the bill to Gov. Tom McCall, who signed it, having made it his own after the 1969 effort failed. (The chief sponsor was Rep. Paul Hanneman, a Republican from Cloverdale who left the House in 1990 after 26 years. He later became a Tillamook County commissioner, and is living in retirement.)
Of course, Oregonians know it as the bottle bill, which stood pretty much as it was until 2007, when lawmakers expanded it to include water and flavored water containers.
“It was my father’s personal legacy to Oregon. But it isn’t just his. The citizens of Oregon own their bottle bill in a real way,” Berger said as she and Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, launched HB 3145 last week. It would increase the deposit from 5 cents to 10 cents, if recycling falls below 80 percent; expand the requirement to sports drinks and teas, and move to redemption centers for containers.
The bill is pending in the House Energy, Environment and Water Committee.
— Peter Wong
P.S. Richard Chambers’ story is told in the 1994 book by Brent Walth, “Fire at Eden’s Gate: Tom McCall and the Oregon Story.” His wife, Kay; son, Doug, and daughter (Vicki Berger) were sources for the relevant chapters on the bottle bill.
http://community.statesmanjournal.com/blogs/capitolwatch/2011/04/09/a-reminder-of-her-fathers-legacy
