House Spends Much of Last Day on BPA Ban
by Hugh McQuaid | Jun 8, 2011 8:45pm
(1) Comment | Commenting has expired
Posted to: Environment, State Capitol
With the clock ticking on the last day of the legislative session, the House unexpectedly spent close to four hours debating a bill that would ban the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) from use in paper receipts.
The bill hasn’t been especially controversial throughout the legislative process. The Senate passed it on a consent calendar just two days earlier. Before that it passed the General Law Committee unanimously and the Environment Committee 21-6.
Sen. Ed Meyer, D-Guilford, said Republicans were likely questioning the bill extensively to kill time in an effort to prevent Democratic bills from being raised.
The Senate had already amended the measure to address the concerns of Republicans in that chamber, he said. The bill was changed so that rather than banning the substance by 2013, businesses would have until 2015, he said.
Meyer said it was important the legislature passed the measure since studies have shown the chemical to be highly toxic.
“The obstruction of this bill is strongly against the public interest,” he said.
Republicans offered a strike-all amendment that would have replaced the bill with a call to establish a study of the chemical, which was rejected 94-52.
At around 8:30 p.m. the bill was passed 112-33.
Tags: harmful chemicals, House, legislature, bpa
Comment
posted by: TStarks | June 9, 2011 8:59am
I watched this debate last night with the sick facination of watching a train wreck. Without any due diligence to the financial/economic impact to the state and small businesses or actual health impact of thermal paper, Rep Reed proposed a bill to ban the paper without a substitute… possibly leaving CT businesses in the lurch as well as possibly hurting the state economony.
It was admittedly unclear how many machines would be effected or even what types of reciepts (ie CT Lottery Tickets)were produced on thermal paper. There have been no scientific studies or anecdotal evidence thermal paper has any ill effects. The amount of BPA in the receipts was unknown… and well as the amount of BPA needed in one’s system to cause any ill effects was unknown.
Republicans after agknowleging health should be a concern… begged to start a task force to investigate the health and econonomic impact, before outlawing this paper and forcing companies to comply. They repeatedly brought up how if it was truely a concern, then the bill would ban paper today… and not in 4 years. Concerned with CT business and the future economy, when a truely asburd bill would tie the hands of every business that produces receipts… and with absolutely no proof of any ill effects… Proponents of the bill rolled their eyes and laughed under their breath at those concerns.