LongBeachReport.com | LBReport.com | CA Senate Kills Plastic Bag Ban 14-21; Sen. Lowenthal Votes Yes; Sen. Wright Votes No; Sen. Oropeza Absent

(Sept. 1, 2010) -- The CA Senate has rejected a bill that would have prohibited grocery stores and chain pharmacies from providing a single-use carryout bag to a customer (effective Jan 1, 2012, and applied to convenience stores and food marts with an off-sale alcohol permit effective Jan. 1, 2013); allowed the sale of recycled paper bags to a customer for the store's actual cost of the bag; and required stores to make reusable bags available for purchase by consumers. (The bill's full text is linked below).

On Tuesday night (Aug. 31), the measure failed Senate passage 14-21...with 21 votes needed to pass. A number of Senate Dems -- including LB-area state Senator Rod Wright (PV-LB-Inglewood) -- joined with Repubs in killing the measure.

Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D., LB-Paramount) voted yes; Sen. Rod Wright (D, PV-LB-Inglewood) voted no; Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D, LB-southbay) was absent (from that day's Senate session).

AB 1998's co-authors included Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal (D., LB) and state Senator Alan Lowenthal (D., LB-Paramount). It previously cleared the Assembly and was recently amended in an effort to garner more Senate support.

To view the bill's full text as amended, click here.

Below is the Senate recorded vote:

MEASURE:	AB 1998
AUTHOR:	Brownley
TOPIC:	Solid waste: single-use carryout bags.
DATE:	08/31/2010
LOCATION:	SEN. FLOOR
MOTION:	Assembly 3rd Reading AB1998 Brownley By Cedillo
	(AYES  14. NOES  21.)  (FAIL)

	AYES
	****

Alquist	Cedillo	Corbett	DeSaulnier
Hancock	Kehoe	Leno	Liu
Lowenthal	Padilla	Pavley	Simitian
Steinberg	Yee

	NOES
	****

Aanestad	Ashburn	Calderon	Cogdill
Correa	Denham	Ducheny	Dutton
Emmerson	Florez	Harman	Hollingsworth
Huff	Negrete McLeod	Price	Romero
Runner	Walters	Wolk	Wright
Wyland

	NO VOTE RECORDED
	****************

Blakeslee	Oropeza	Strickland	Wiggins
Vacancy

On June 15, 2010 the LB City Council voted 7-2 (Andrews, Lowenthal absent) to support AB 1998 (in an item agendized by Councilmembers Lowenthal and DeLong).

The proposed legislation was the subject of a detailed LBReport.com story by Joanne Tucker in June 2010. To view it, click here.