Cuyahoga County and Columbus voted to prohibit plastic bags at retailers, with fees or fines for those that violate the bans. A state lawmaker wants to outlaw the bans by targeting those fees.
Republican Rep. George Lang says this isn’t about the environment, but it's about the many taxing jurisdictions in Ohio.
“We are just stopping the ability to tax,” he said.
Lang says banning bans and their fees ensures what he calls “commerce uniformity for auxiliary containers,” so retailers, restaurants and manufacturers know what to expect statewide. And he says it will stop the flow of people who have moved out or left Ohio.
“The data is so empirical that we are getting our asses kicked by other pro-business friendly states. We’re the fifth-most left state in the nation,” he said.
Lang says he has two legal opinions that say banning local bans is not a violation of home rule, so he thinks if it passes it will be upheld as constitutional.
