Better Bottle Bill

Even though his tenure as Governor was short, I was impressed with Spitzer’s support for the Bigger Better Bottle Bill he attempted to implement for the 2008/09 fiscal budget.

The Bottle Bill would have included “non-carbonated” to the list of deposit based beverages such as bottled water, iced-teas, and sports drinks, thus, offering more of an incentive for consumers to participate in recycling their waste.

The legislation, would not only add a 5-cent deposit to non-carbonated beverages, but also calls for the state to recover unclaimed deposits from the beverage industry. These funds would be allocated for New York's Environmental Protection Fund.

Had the bill survived the State Senate, revenue projections for the 2008-2009 budget approached $25 million for the last quarter of the year and $100 million in subsequent years.

Had I been in the State Senate at the time the State Assembly sent the Bottle Bill to us, I would have asked Majority Leader Bruno to bring it out for a vote. Needless to say, the Bill died in committee at the end of the 2008 session.

Joe Bruno had the sole capacity to release the Bottle Bill to the Senate floor for a vote. He chose not to. Not because he likes the littler along the highway and on our beaches, but because the bottling companies said NO. Why would Bruno care what the bottling companies want? Because they invested a lot of money into his past campaigns, that’s why. Those companies enjoy the windfall profits of unredeemed bottles throughout the state every year.

Now that Bruno is gone, Paterson is an advocate for the bill and the new Majority Leader Dean Skelos seems tepidly agreeable to the legislation. When the majority shifts to the Democrats, and Malcolm Smith is the Majority Leader, it might pass the 2009 session. I would like to be there and support the measure. It is just one small step toward making New York a cleaner and safer place to raise a family.