Rep. Cannon Tries To Resurrect BPA Bill

Capitol Currents:

Democratic Representative Ben Cannon is launching an effort to yank loose the stalled measure that would ban BPA in children's beverage containers. The bill passed the Senate last month but fell victim to a committee deadline earlier this week. The inaction infuriated environmental groups and spurred talk of an initiative petition. Now, Cannon is trying a little-used procedure called a "discharge petition" to get the bill moving again.Basically, if Cannon can round up signatures from 31 representatives, the bill would come to the floor for an up-or-down vote. (Presumably one of those signatures will be his own, meaning he has to convince "only" 30 of his colleagues.) With the House evenly divided 30-30, this means that Cannon will have to convince at least one Republican to go along. Since GOP Representative Greg Smith is a co-sponsor, that would seem to be a slam dunk...except there's no guarantee that every Democrat will sign on.Cannon will have until Wednesday to round up the needed signatures...with a 3-day holiday weekend in between. Cannon tells me he's certain there are at least 31 votes for the measure should it reach the floor, but getting the signatures is a different political equation altogether. (The discharge petition is a public document, meaning anyone can check later on to see who signed it.)Cannon's co-chair in the House Energy, Environment & Water Committee is GOP Representative Vic Gilliam. While Cannon's move would seem to be an end-run around Gilliam's authority, Gilliam tells me he's "fine" with Cannon's move. "It was never my intention to kill the bill or stop it," says Gilliam.

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