Bottle Bill Initiative Spending Records
| In all of the instances below, where a new or existing beverage container deposit law was put to public vote, bottle bill opposition spent significantly larger amounts on their campaign. Statistics indicate that their financial strategies worked; in all but three of the cases, the bottle bill was defeated or the law repealed. | |||||
Bill Information | Vote Count | Campaign Spending | Result for Bottle Bill | ||
| Colorado 1976 | 331,315 | Yes | $25,000 | Proponents | Negative |
| Amendment 8 | 682,056 | No | $51,000 | Opponents | |
| Maine 1976 | 274,164 | Yes | $26,000 | Proponents | Negative |
| Deposit Referendum | 200,000 | No | $404,000 | Opponents | |
| Michigan 1976 | 2,154,215 | Yes | $117,175 | Proponents | Positive |
| Proposal A | 1,219,783 | No | $1,219,783 | Opponents | |
| Nebraska 1978 | 211,732 | Yes | $11,000 | Proponents | Negative |
| Proposition 301 | 280,522 | No | $350,000 | Opponents | |
| Maine 1979 | 226,076 | No | $165,000 | Proponents | Positive |
| Repeal Attempt | 41,802 | Yes | $22,000 | Opponents | |
| Ohio 1979 | 768,898 | Yes | $88,855 | Proponents | Negative |
| Issue 1 | 2,019,834 | No | $1,550,000 | Opponents | |
| Washington 1979 | 380,247 | Yes | $72,000 | Proponents | Negative |
| Initiative 61 | 517,177 | No | $968,000 | Opponents | |
| California 1982 | 359,281 | Yes | $900,000 | Proponents | Negative |
| Proposition 11 | 4,256,274 | No | $5,800,000 | Opponents | |
| Colorado 1982 | 242,653 | Yes | $500,000 | Proponents | Negative |
| Initiative 5 | 708,564 | No | $2,500,000 | Opponents | |
| Massachusetts 1982 | 1,143,956 | Yes | $250,000 | Proponents | Positive |
| Question 4 (Should the bottle bill be upheld?) | 79,846 | No | $1,000,000 | Opponents | |
| Washington 1982 | 400,136 | Yes | $248,000 | Proponents | Negative |
| Initiative 414 | 965,951 | No | $965,951 | Opponents | |
| Washington D.C 1987 | 33,870 | Yes | $80,000 | Proponents | Negative |
| Initiative 28 | 41,836 | No | $2,297,000 | Opponents | |
| Oregon 1996 | 559,672 | Yes | $400,000 | Proponents | Negative |
| Measure 37 (Expansion) | 839,508 | No | $3,200,000 | Opponents | |
| Columbia, MO 2002 | 7,700 | No | $16,147 | Proponents | Negative |
| Proposition 1 (Repeal Attempt) | 10,500 | Yes | $88,000 | Opponents | |
Sources: The Returnable Times , Environmental Action, 1988, Oregon Public Interest Research Group, 1996, Columbia Daily Tribune, 2002 | |||||
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