MONTPELIER — By a wide margin, 112-32,, the Vermont House voted on Thursday morning to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of H.158, better known as the “bottle bill.”

H.158 would overhaul the state’s system for recycling beverage containers by expanding the state’s existing bottle deposit law to include more types of beverage containers — including water bottles — that were not part of the original legislation, which turned 51 last year. Middlebury State Rep. Amy Sheldon was the lead sponsor for H.158.

Proponents argue the system was overdue for an update, and the expansion would help keep more bottles out of landfills. Lawmakers’ approval of the updated bill during a special session last June was followed soon after by Scott’s veto.

The Vermont Senate is on a slower roll. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, told colleagues Thursday that he wanted to give them time to “get refamiliarized” with the H.158’s details as well as to “have our constituents weigh in.” (Lobbyists might also have something to say.) He said he expects that chamber to take up the veto override on Jan. 22.

In a message explaining his veto of the bottle bill last year, Scott wrote that he opposed the updated bill because it would impose additional costs on manufacturers and consumers.

The House lawmakers’ rebuke was surely the most interesting thing that happened yesterday in the House chamber… right?

Oh, yes — perhaps not so coincidentally, Thursday was also the day of Gov. Phil Scott’s annual State of the State address.

Speaking in a packed chamber just after 2 p.m., Scott told legislators, with more than a hint of passive aggression, that his 2025 fiscal year budget would be “sobering” as pandemic-era federal funding dries up and “last year’s spending decisions” come to bear.

Really, though, the governor’s speech had nothing to do with the timing of the veto override vote, House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, told reporters. “It was on notice yesterday — which was our first day of the session — and then up for action today,” the speaker said.