AUGUSTA – The sponsor of a bill that would have placed a nickel deposit on all filtered cigarettes sold in the state vowed Tuesday to take his case to the floor of the Maine House after a legislative panel overwhelmingly rejected the measure.

Rep. Joseph E. Brooks, D-Winterport, was visibly disappointed by the 11-2 ought-not-to-pass vote returned by the Legislature’s Business and Economic Development Committee. The cigarette butt redemption bill has been one of the most high-profile issues in the current legislative session and alternately perceived as both innovative and frivolous by rank-and-file members.

National and international media attention on the issue of cigarette litter has made Brooks something of a celebrity. The BBC, CNN and other major news vendors all have featured him on various programs and the legislator also was recently skewered by conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

After citing what he characterized as growing public support for the proposal, Brooks knows he’s facing an uphill battle as he attempts to convince a majority of the 151 House members to support the initiative.

“We’ve got an [11-2] vote which will be difficult to turn around on the floor,” he said. “I’m saddened by the fact that the committee and the Legislature once again didn’t truly reflect the sentiment of what I’m hearing among my constituents who favor the butt bill by a 30-1 margin.”

Brooks modeled LD 258 after Maine’s successful returnable bottle law. The measure would have placed a $1 surcharge on every pack of filtered cigarettes to provide the nickel-per-butt redemption. The bill would not apply to cigars or nonfiltered cigarettes that proponents said were biodegradable.

Brooks estimates about half of the state’s smokers, who consume 2.2 billion cigarettes annually, would participate in the redemption program. The discarded butts could be redeemed at stores or existing bottle redemption centers and then later transported to energy recovery companies for incineration or be buried in landfills. After redemption payouts, Brooks said about $46 million would remain to be transferred into state coffers and cover program administration costs.

Critics maintained there were health issues that could arise from unsafe handling of used smoking materials and representatives of grocers and variety stores expressed fears over unsanitary conditions that could arise from the extended storage of accumulated cigarette butts.

During committee discussions Tuesday, legislators heard from lobbyists for the tobacco industry. They offered to develop statewide programs to reduce litter generated by smokers who casually flick their cast-off cigarette butts along roadways, beaches and parking areas.

Representing the New England Convenience Store Association and the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Dan Riley said more stores are reducing parking lot smoking litter with stationary ashtrays, adding that the solution could be extended to restaurants, motels and office buildings. The lobbyist said tobacco companies are underwriting public service announcements in various media markets across the country to convince smokers to be more responsible with their discarded cigarettes. Although similar initiatives have yet to be launched in Maine, Riley said the state’s existing coastal cleanup program currently retrieves more cigarette butts than any other form of litter.

“That might be a program that we could work with this summer and I’ll obviously be recommending to my client that we pursue that and try to set up some meetings over the course of the summer to try and make that happen,” Riley said.

Sen. Kevin L. Shorey, R-Calais, credited Brooks with raising public awareness over the issue of cigarette litter, but added that the suggested solution was “not the best for the people of Maine.”

As Senate chairman of the Business and Economic Development Committee, Shorey said he would encourage tobacco companies and those in the private sector who deal with cigarette litter firsthand to pool their efforts in an attempt to craft a better remedy than the Brooks bill.

“Education on this issue is very, very important,” he said.