California Legislature Approves Statewide Bag Ban with SB 270

On Thursday, August 28, 2014, the California Assembly approved SB 270, a bill to ban single-use plastic shopping bags and put a fee on paper bags. The bill then headed to the Senate for a concurrence on August 29th and was signed off by Gov. Jerry Brown in September.  Gov. Brown noted that this may be the first statewide law to ban bags, but it won't be the last.  The bill was authored by California State Senators Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), Kevin DeLeon (D-Los Angeles) and Ricardo Lara (D-Huntington Park/Long Beach). These Senators partnered with the environmental community, the California Grocers Association, workers unions, industry and the public to create a statewide solution to the problem of single-use plastic bag pollution. This victory marks the culmination of a six year effort to promote bag ban legislation in the state capital.