Des Moines, Iowa — For the first time in 44 years, lawmakers have voted to make changes in Iowa’s popular “Bottle Bill.”
That’s Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig, one of 30 Republicans who voted to accept House adjustments and send the bill to the governor. The legislation would let grocery stores stop accepting empty bottles and cans and paying deposits. Redemption centers would see their per container handling fee increased to three cents. Wholesale distributors of beer and pop would be able to keep the money from unredeemed containers.
Schultz says more redemption centers will open once the per container handling fee is being tripled. There are only five dozen redemption centers in Iowa today. Senator Claire Celsi, a Democrat from Des Moines, says letting grocery stores and other retailers opt out of accepting empties means many Iowans will have nowhere to get their deposits back.
Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says the bill will be a massive windfall to wholesalers who’ll continue to keep those unredeemed deposits.
And Bolkcom objects to the tax credit for beer distributors that’s included in the bill. The 15 “no” votes in the Senate came from Democrats. The plan got bipartisan support in the Iowa House last month and now goes to the governor. Last month Governor Reynolds told reporters she was solely focused on rounding up votes for her private school scholarships and had not been negotiating with legislators on Bottle Bill changes.
