Prop. 65 And 67: Will Californians Vote To Ditch Plastic Bag Ban?

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – There are two propositions on the upcoming ballot that involve where we put our groceries.

Proposition 67 would ratify an earlier Senate bill that bans retailers in California from handing out plastic bags. It also allows them to collect a 10-cent per bag fee to cover the cost of paper bags.

A "Yes" vote would keep the plastic bag ban in place. A "No" vote would get rid of it.

In addition, a "Yes" vote on Proposition 67 specifies revenue from the 10-cent charge would go to cover the cost of providing the non-plastic bags and educating consumers.

Prop. 65 keeps the plastic bag ban in place and puts the money made into an environmental fund.

Brian Brown from the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office tells us "It would go toward environmental purposes – and those environmental purposes include a range of things but include support for parks or litter clean-up, clean water program and so on."

The primary group supporting both of these propositions is the American Progressive Bag Alliance.

Critics argue introducing both props on the same ballot can be confusing.They point to the following scenarios:

If Prop. 67 should fail and Prop. 65 passes, then the statewide plastic bag ban goes away.

But if legislators re-introduce it, all the money would go toward an environmental fund.

If 67 passes and 65 fails, then stores would be required to use the money generated from the ban to cover costs and education.

If both props pass, but 67 by a larger margin, stores would be allowed to keep the profits.

If 65 wins by a larger margin, the single-use plastic bag ban goes into effect statewide and the money will go into an environmental fund.

If both props fail, there would be no statewide plastic bag ban.