California Bill for Total Ban on Plastic Bags Slammed as 'Overreach'

A bill introduced in California's State Legislature on Thursday aims to eliminate all plastic bags in grocery stores by 2026, but the proposal has already received pushback online.

California became the first state in 2014 to ban single-use plastic bags in stores, forcing groceries and retail locations to switch to using thicker plastic bags that shoppers are able to purchase for a small fee at checkout. But the newly introduced bill, which was backed by Democrats in the state's Senate and Assembly, would eliminate any plastic bag options, which supporters say is a step in the right direction for environmental policy.

"Ten years ago, California attempted to ban plastic bags to stem pollution," State Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a Democrat who introduced a copy of the bill into the lower house of California's State Legislature, said in a release Thursday. "Yet, these insidious relics persist, choking our waterways, imperiling wildlife, and despoiling our ecosystems."

Democratic California State Senators Ben Allen and Catherine Blakespear are also proponents of the bill.

According to a press release from state lawmakers yesterday, the plastic bag ban is supported by environmental groups and the California Grocers Association, a progressive statewide trade association. But critics of the bill, including California State Senator Brian Dahle, called it an example of "government overreach."

"I'm very frustrated that we have to regulate everything in California," Dahle said during an appearance on WDBD on Friday. "Telling you what kind of car you have to drive, what kind of straw you can have, what kind of lawnmower you can use or not use in California. Where does it end?"

Dahle, a Republican, also critiqued the bill in a post to his account on X, formerly Twitter, writing that his state "has a massive budget deficit, soaring crime, highest in the nation utility rates, a housing crisis, and a failing educational system—we should be addressing those critical issues, not adding another item to ban in California."

Other users on X also pushed back at the proposed bill. Grace Chong, CFO of conservative political podcast War Room featuring Steve Bannon, wrote in a post Friday afternoon, "do you know it's tradition to save as many plastic bags as possible in asian families?? california sucks."

X user Brynn Legree wrote in response to an article from KTLA about the bill, "This state keeps getting worse by the day." Another user under the story wrote, "enough with all this already!"

Newsweek reached out to the California state lawmakers behind the bill for comment via email on Friday.

Twelve states have some form of statewide ban on single-use plastic bags, and over 500 cities and towns have their ordinance in effect, according to environmental advocacy group Environment America. A January report produced by U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Frontier Group and Environment American found that such bans "successfully reduced plastic bag use and associated litter and pollution."

"If you have been paying attention—if you read the news at all in recent years—you know we are choking our planet with plastic waste," Blakespear said in a release Thursday after announcing California's total plastic bag ban.

"A plastic bag has an average lifespan of 12 minutes and then it is discarded, often clogging sewage drains, contaminating our drinking water and degenerating into toxic microplastics that fester in our oceans and landfills for up to 1,000 years," the state lawmaker continued. "It's time to improve on California's original plastic bags ban and do it right this time by completely eliminating plastic bags from being used at grocery stores."