California governor signs bill implementing plastic bag ban
Alan Riquelmy
(CN) California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a single-use plastic bag ban bill into law, changing a rule that’s been in place for 10 years.
Senate Bill 1053 — written by state Senator Catherine Blakespear, an Encinitas Democrat — will eliminate an exemption that thicker plastic bags currently have. Customers, starting on Jan. 1, 2026, can use either canvas or paper bags.
Certain single-use bags, like those used for unwrapped food, are exempt from the bill.
“We did it!” Blakespear posted on X, formerly Twitter, Sunday afternoon. “This is a huge step forward in our efforts to reduce our dependency on [single-use] plastics in our state.”
Oceana, which advocates for science-based policies that help the ocean, praised the governor's decision in a statement.
“The new ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery store checkouts solidifies California as a leader in tackling the global plastic pollution crisis,” said Christy Leavitt, Oceana’s plastics campaign director. “Plastic bags are one of the deadliest types of plastic to ocean wildlife. With an ocean-based economy valued at $45 billion annually, California is dependent on a clean coast.”
According to Oceana, a 2022 poll that it released showed that 86% of state voters want policies that reduce single-use plastic. Blakespear has said that plastic breaks down into smaller parts, polluting water and getting inside human bodies.
Some Republicans pushed back against the bill as it moved through the Legislature. State Senator Brian Dahle, a Bieber Republican, had argued that California hadn’t yet seen the effects of Senate Bill 54, an existing law that requires packaging and plastic foodware sold in state to be recyclable and compostable. He wanted to see what that new law did to businesses before favoring Blakespear’s bill.
Blakespear’s legislation stemmed from a 2014 law that created the state’s existing plastic-bag ban. However, that ban didn’t include thicker plastic bags that can be reused, but usually aren’t.
California has seen plastic waste increase by 50% over the past decade, Blakespear has said, as the thicker bags are discarded and not reused.
An identical bill by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, an Orinda Democrat, didn’t reach a final vote in the Assembly before the session ended Aug. 31.
The plastic bag ban bill was one of dozens Newsom signed on Sunday.
The governor also signed Assembly Bill 1784 into law. Written by Santa Cruz Democratic Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, the bill clarifies that someone can’t run for more than one office at a primary election.
Pellerin in a bill analysis pointed to a Sacramento County Superior Court judge’s decision that allowed a candidate to run for both state Assembly and a U.S. House of Representatives seat.
Pellerin in her statement didn’t name former Assemblymember Vince Fong, whose dual-candidacy case the judge decided. Fong went on to win a special election for the U.S. House.
Newsom also vetoed several bills.
One of those bills vetoed was Assembly Bill 544, written by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Los Angeles Democrat. His bill would have made a pilot program in three counties to improve voter participation in jails.
The governor in a statement said counties already can create these programs without the Legislature weighing in.
“Further, this bill creates a new, unfunded grant program and should be considered in the annual budget process,” Newsom added.
He also vetoed Assembly Bill 2263, called the California Guaranteed Income Statewide Feasibility Study Act.
The bill — written by Assemblymember Laura Friedman, a Glendale Democrat — would have led to recommendations on the feasibility of a guaranteed income program, examining its benefits and challenges.
Newsom said millions of dollars have been allocated in prior budget years to grants for a similar pilot program. He also, like with Bryan’s bill, pointed to money for the bill’s implementation as lacking.