While the bills that pass through committee get most of the attention, often times the bills that are rejected are interesting to know about as well. One such bill that crossed my desk this week as Chair of the Environmental Protection Committee, House File 2332, dealt with plastic shopping bags and straws. This bill was filed by one of our Democrat House members. This bill would impose a ten-cent fee on each bag to be paid by the manufacturer of the plastic bags used by grocery stores, department stores, etc. The manufacturers would be required to maintain records of the quantity of bags sold, whom they were sold to, etc. This bill also would create a daily fine on restaurants and other food establishments for giving their customers plastic straws. Needless to say, I’ve declined to move this bill forward. Our retail system doesn’t need these kinds of costs and bureaucracy imposed on them, nor do the consumers appreciate such meddling. Nor do these ideas provide any improvement to the environment.
