WA lawmaker to introduce a plastic bag ban bill

OLYMPIA — A Burien lawmaker says he plans to introduce a bill to ban plastic grocery bags statewide. Democratic Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon said he would introduce the bill today. A press conference announcing the measure is scheduled for Thursday. The announcement comes three weeks after the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a plastic bag ban into law. Starting July 1, Seattle will become the fourth Washington city prohibiting grocery stores and retailers from providing plastic bags to shoppers. Fitzgibbon’s bill would make Washington the first state in the country to ban plastic bags. But he concedes that his bill will face opposition, and that a statewide ban on plastic bags is likely years away. Opponents of the proposed ban say it would limit consumer choice and represent an unnecessary government overreach.