AUGUSTA – Rep. Joseph Brooks draws plenty of chuckles when he talks about his plan to have the state require returnable deposits on the remnants of cigarettes and cigars, but he maintains that the benefits are beyond question.

Brooks, D-Winterport, says paying a nickel for every cigarette butt found along sidewalks and beaches would result in cleaner scenery, fewer fires and better health.

“This is a brand-spanking-new model idea,” said Brooks, who smoked for more than three decades before kicking the habit. “You can call it ‘Covering Your Butt’ or ‘Returning Your Butt.’ You can make up all kinds of one-liners on this.”

The program would be modeled on Maine’s decades-old returnable container law, although a smaller percentage of cigarette and cigar butts would be returned than bottles, he said. Any money left over in the program could be used to fund anti-smoking programs in Maine schools, he said.

“I don’t really think people will be saving their stinking butts. I think we’ll get 10 or 15 percent back,” Brooks said. “If it works, great, everything will be a little cleaner. If not, we’ll be able to fund a smoking control program.”

Brooks’ bill would require manufacturers to place a stamp on the smoker’s end of the cigarette, filter or cigar.

Rep. Scott W. Cowger, D-Hallowell, a co-sponsor of the bill, said there are details that have to be worked out before the measure is ready to become law.

“The issue I have, as chairman of the Natural Resources Committee is, who is going to be collecting and redeeming these things,” said Cowger, anticipating possible objections from store owners reluctant to handle such items.

Cowger, a bed and breakfast owner and a member of the Maine Innkeepers Association, said the industry group believes the proposal would promote cleanliness in outdoor areas where smokers tend to congregate.

Brooks credited officials of Lafayette Hotels, a Bangor-based chain with 10 hotels in Maine and four in New Hampshire, with helping him hatch the idea.

“We spend a lot to pick up cigarette butts in our areas and parking lots,” said Peter Daigle, chief operating officer of Lafayette Hotels. “It takes a half-an-hour or an hour for someone each time they go out at one of our hotels, so obviously there is a cost associated with it.”

A spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. would not comment directly on the proposed legislation, but questioned the mechanics and cost of placing a distinct stamp on cigarettes headed only to Maine.

John Singleton said the cost of cigarettes already includes $1.26 in state and federal taxes in Maine, generating more than $77 million a year along with $60 million from the national tobacco lawsuit settlement.

“We acknowledge that cigarette litter in the environment is a problem and we’d like to see it resolved,” Singleton said. “But cigarettes are already one of the most extremely heavily taxed consumer products in the country.”

Store owners would likely be most worried about handling the used cigarettes and possible health hazards, said James McGregor, executive vice president of the Maine Merchants Association.

Brooks said he would be willing to compromise on the amount of the deposit on cigarette butts. He suggested a 74-cent deposit per pack to go along with Gov. Angus King’s proposed 26-cent tax increase.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Brooks said. “When I talk to people about it I get great guffaws, but the more they think about it the more they realize what a great opportunity it is. What a great way to prevent smoking and reduce litter.”