Reps. George Lang of Butler County and Don Jones of Warren County have introduced House Bill 242, a revamp of last year’s House Bill 625. The bill seeks to pre-empt taxation and regulation of auxiliary containers.
It is an “over-reaching bill based on lobbyist funding and passed by an uneducated state legislature,” in the words of Orange Village Council President Brandon Duber. Orange was the first community in Ohio to enact a plastic bag ban last year. The new bill, if passed, would invalidate the ban.
County Councilwoman Sunny Simon, who has been leading the charge locally for plastic bag regulation, told cleveland.com that she wasn’t surprised the statehouse was “bought and paid for by the plastic and chemical industries with no consideration to the long-term damage and impact to the environment.”
The state bill was likely resuscitated because Cuyahoga County is planning to establish a ban. After Simon and her co-sponsors failed to rally support for a fee on plastic bags last year, they have managed to enlist allies in support of a ban, based largely on environmental concerns. Council was expected to vote on the ban at their next meeting on May 28.
Speaking on behalf of the plastic bag industry, “Representative” George Lang told Scene last year that HB625 was “primarily aimed to help business.” In fact, it was “all about” reducing the cost and complexity of regulations for businesses. (Lang’s district is home to a plastic bag manufacturer.)
Cleveland.com reported that in a memo sent earlier this month, Lang wrote to his colleagues that the legislation was supported by the Ohio Beverage Association, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and “other politically influential business groups.”
The memo echoes Lang’s comments to Scene:
“When everyday products like paper cups, grocery bags, to-go containers and soft-drink bottles are taxed and regulated inconsistently within a state, it creates costly problems for manufacturers, businesses and working families. Adopting statewide uniformity for auxiliary containers is a way to protect against overregulation, support manufacturing jobs and uphold consumer freedom.”
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This article appears in May 15-21, 2019.
I am not a fan of this plastic bag ban. Banning what people litter with is not going to work.
I am a fan of the States ability to preempt local laws that are the business of the State. For example gun laws which are part of the Ohio constitution.
That said, the State has no business getting involved in this one. This is a local decision with no statewide impact.
I guess no plastic bag tax will be coming down the pike anytime soon…The same goes for tax and sodas…So what will our local thieving politicians think of to tax next???
No worries, Im sure Taxin Jackson will gladly give us workers another hefty income tax hike, and thief Budish will raise our already outrages property taxes yet again!!!
Until cooks like these two are recalled from office and sent right to jail, nothing will likely ever change around here except paying more and more taxes to fund these corrupt politicians never ending financial mismanagement shenanigans!!!
Oh those rascally plastic bag lobbyists. It was only a matter of time before they emerged and launched their long awaited takeover of the State. Big Oil and Big Healthcare are watching in awe.
I have said from the beginning, that this is not about controlling plastic bags, but generating revenue by taxing them. Almost all politicians are revenue whores, with an insatiable appetite for spending taxpayer monies. Even if bags were banned in the county, that does not solve the problem.
If a ban on plastic bags would be placed on the ballot it would fail miserably. If they were to be banned everyone with half a brain would just buy a box of 500 on Amazon and keep them in your trunk. Thats what I was planning on doing.
If you can keep plastic bags in your trunk, why not reusable ecofriendly bags. That is a win win in my book.
I hate that the consern expressed by most is over convenience. Banning single use plastics is a MUST. Not just bags but ALL of them.
186 countries signed an agreement to protect our environment last month. The US was one of the only first world country not too.
We are KILLING our wildlife, oceans, rivers, and streams by filling them with products that wont break down in our eco system for 100s of years! Whales are washing up with staggering amounts of trash in their bodies! (A sperm whale had 115 plastic solo cups inside! 115!!)
The US is responsible for 1/3 of the world’s carbon footprint meaning that our consumer choices are some of the most powerful in the world! Scientists are telling us we have 10yrs to stop our behaviors and make MAJOR changes.
Watching you fight to keep single use plastics is like watching a cancer patient fight for cigarettes.