Rep. Case says mattress legislation will hurt hospitals

HARTFORD – State Rep. Jay Case, R-Winchester, voted Thursday against legislation that would require consumers to pay additional fees when purchasing mattresses, saying it could further hurt hospitals and group homes in the state that have already been hit hard.

Rep. Case, a member of the Human Services, Appropriations, Energy & Technology, and Environment committees, joined 20 other legislators in both parties to vote against H.B. 6437, An Act Concerning Mattress Stewardship Program. Although the bill passed the House and will move to the state Senate, Rep. Case voiced his concerns upon its passage.

“While the idea of a mattress stewardship program – one in which old mattresses are recycled and handled in an environmentally-friendly way – is a great one, the way this bill was written will further hurt consumers’ wallets and will strain hospitals like the ones that serve my district,” Rep. Case said. “Places like Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, which purchase a number of mattresses at one time, will have to dig deep to find the funding to pay for the program.”

H.B. 6437 will require anyone purchasing mattresses to pay an additional fee before being taxed on it. The fees will go to a “stewardship program” that will fund the mattress recycling, but for some, “the fees add up.”

“The legislature in previous years, and the proposed budget, compromises hospitals, and this legislation simply requires them to spend more money that they don’t have,” Rep. Case said, adding: “And that’s not sound legislation.”