February 14, 2011
On February 11, 2011, Sen. Maralyn Chase introduced a statewide bill to place a fee on plastic carryout bags. This comes two years after a bitter local battle over a 20-cent plastic bag fee was adopted by the Seattle City Council, then vetoed in a voter referendum sponsored by the well-funded plastic bag industry. The first draft of SB 5780 seems pretty bare bones in that it addresses only plastic carryout bags whereas most modern ordinances address paper as well as plastic carryout bags. This is only the first version of the bill, however, so there is plenty of time for improvement!
For more information see this Komo News article or the text of the bill (and vetoed ordinance) below.
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