Calif. rejects ban on plastic shopping bags

By ROBIN HINDERY Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a bill seeking to ban plastic shopping bags, after a contentious debate over whether the state was going too far in trying to regulate personal choice.

It would have been the first statewide ban, although a few cities already prohibit their use.

The Democratic bill had been the subject of a furious lobbying campaign by the plastic bag manufacturing industry, which called it a job killer.

The Senate took final action at the very end of the legislative session, reflecting how difficult it had been to muster support. The bill received just 14 votes in the Senate, seven short of the majority it needed.

Supporters of AB1998 said the 19 billion plastic bags Californians use every year harm the environment and cost the state $25 million annually to collect and transport to landfills.

Sen. Gil Cedillo, who carried the measure on the Senate floor, said it offered California an opportunity to emerge at the forefront of a global trend.

"If we don't solve this problem today, if we don't create a statewide standard, if we don't provide the leadership that is being called for, others will," the Los Angeles Democrat said.

A handful of California cities already ban single-use plastic bags, after San Francisco became the first to do so in 2007. Palo Alto, Malibu and Fairfax have since followed, while a ban approved in Manhattan Beach is tied up in litigation, said Matthew King, a spokesman for Heal the Bay, the Santa Monica-based nonprofit that sponsored AB1998.

The bill called for the ban to take effect in supermarkets and large retail stores in 2012. It would have applied to smaller stores in 2013.

Republicans and some Democrats opposed it, saying it would add an extra burden on consumers and businesses at a time when many already are struggling financially.

"If we pass this piece of legislation, we will be sending a message to the people of California that we care more about banning plastic bags than helping them put food on their table," said Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Lake Forest.

Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, was one of half a dozen Democrats to vote against the bill. She said the state instead should offer incentives for reducing the use of plastic bags before imposing a statewide mandate.