Bill to Include Deposit on Mini Liquor Bottles Clears Committee

A bill that would expand Maine’s 15-cent deposit to miniature liquor bottles could be taken up by rank-and-file lawmakers as soon as next month.

Supporters of the measure, such as co-sponsor Rep. Betty Austin, a Skowhegan Democrat, say the deposit is needed to clear the highways of the discarded 50-milliliter liquor bottles, also known as “nips.” She says current practices suggest that many Mainers need to be more aware of where they’re drinking and what they’re doing with their empty bottles.

“It’s probably people who are walking because you find them fairly close to the store where they probably bought them,” she says. “But yes, I really wonder about the implication that people are getting out of work, go grab something like this, drinking it while they’re driving and then throw it to the side of the road.”

Bill co-sponsor Rep. Lance Harvell, a Farmington Republican, says that in his district, the bottles are piling up along the shoulder of the road not far from where the liquor is sold.

Read more: http://mainepublic.org/post/bill-include-deposit-mini-liquor-bottles-clears-committee#stream/0