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IOWA BOTTLE BILL COALITION

Redemption Centers working for Iowa

Donations

At this time this website is 100% built and paid for by the Iowa Bottle Bill Coalition. If you would like to donate any amount to help keep it going please just click on the donation button and type in the amount you would like to donate. Donations not only go towards the fees and upkeep to keep this site running, they also goes towards our fight to help all redemption centers work together, with the distributors and legislators. Keeping the flow of information out there for all redemption centers to share. Newsletters, meeting brochures and postage for mailing items to the legislators.

Redemption Centers of Iowa

As a redemption center owner you are aware of the need to get the 30 year old handling fee increased. The results of this summers regional meetings were both encouraging and heartening. More then half of the 168 centers contacted become involved in the planning stage of this years legislative lobby effort.

As you all know Dewayne Johnson is no longer with Iowa Recyclers, and Steve is not nearly as up to date on bottle bill issues as he needs to be to be of much use to us in this session.

Iowa recyclers board feels it is time for the Redemption Centers across Iowa to assume a much bigger share of the efforts and EXPENSE needed to achieve our goals, of getting the 30 year handling fee increased.

Therefore those centers that attended the regional meetings have developed a master plan to project our problems and concerns to the legislature this year. Some of you may feel these efforts are silly, or futile, but, we must play the political lobby game by the rules and expectations set forth by the current political process if we even hope to achieve our goal. The Plan is in several parts. We must all do our part to make the bottle bill an issue again this year.

(A) Educate yourself to our needs, and issues.

1- Increase the handling fee now and set up a system for inflation increases in the future

2-Give the DNR director the authority and responsibility of fairly enforcing the law

3- Increase the fines for anyone violating the law

4- Add water, tea, coffee, and non-carbonated sports drinks to the deposit list. ( Milk and juice would be exempt at this point with a legislative review in 5 years). Basically we are asking that if an item is considered a single use products like those sold in pop machines they should have a deposit on them.

(B) Also we are asking all redemption centers to join the postcard campaign. We hope we will be able to flood the capitol with citizen concerns. What you will need to do is get your customers to sign the cards,and donate the cost of the stamp, for the postcards. We will provide postcards to all those that contribute to the campaign. Then you mail them to the legislators we will inform you about after elections and committee schedules are set. We would like to get well over 10,000 postcards into the legislators hands, before the end of Dec. and another 10,000 by the end of Feb. If each center gets only 200 of their customers to sign a card that is over 33,600 letters of support. The post cards cost 15.00 per hundred and the check is seperate from the 100.00 we are asking for to help pay for a lobbyist. Please mail check for the post cards to Ibbc 4872 103rd st Montezuma IA 50171.

(D) Contact your legislators, attend legislative meetings, and speak up, ask questions, and expect straightforward answers.. Explain our needs in straight forward speech.

(E) Since we will need to hire our own lobbyist this year, to speak for us, attend legislative meetings, and keep us informed as to what is happening in the legislature, we are asking each center to contribute $ 100.oo ( one hundred) to help defray costs of printing the post cards, mailing information to centers and legislators, legislative information handouts, and lobbyist fees. Without these funds our hands are tied. And we will not be able to do the things that need to be done. Our chances of successfully meeting our goal of getting the 30 year old handling fee increased will decrease. All labor costs involved with our efforts will be voluntary, and none of the funds collected will be used for labor costs, except the fees that will be charged by the professional lobbyist. How much has been collected, and how it is being spent will be posted on the Iowa Bottle Bill Coalition web page each week.

(3) Since our main concern is to get the 30 year old handling fee increased , it has been decided to place all our efforts and information packets to the legislators to that effort. The majority of centers attending the meetings felt it best if we allow the environmental groups to work on getting the expansion. While we concentrate on the handling fee increase, and DNR Authority.

Ladies and gentlemen for too long we have depended on other groups to defend us and fight for us.

It is time we stand up, all pull together, and fight for what we need. There are many, many things that are turning in our favor, and our prospects, while not guaranteed are certainly more favorable then they have been in years. But, this fight will not be won, if we do not all put in, ALL our efforts to win it. We are asking that all redemption centers donate what they can, to help insure the fight goes on. This is a fight we can't afford to lose at much longer.

Please make your Check payable to:

IBBC
4872 103rd St
Montezuma IA 50171

What happens in the 2006 Legislative session is in your hands Make the right choice.

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