Missouri House passes bill banning plastic bag bans

It is a plain fact that single-use plastic bags are terrible for the environment. They pollute forests and bodies of water, threaten marine life and resist decomposition for hundreds of years. 

For reasons like these, many municipalities in the United States have either banned or taxed the use of these plastic bags. It’s not just Seattle and San Francisco, either. Cities in states from Alaska to Texas have passed such ordinances. Here’s a list. 

Recently, the City Council in Columbia, Missouri, has been mulling a partial ban. Such an effort would be derailed by legislation approved by the Missouri House of Representatives yesterday, which bans cities from banning plastic bags. 

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Introduced by Rep. Dan Shaul (R-Arnold), HB 722 would prevent any “political subdivision from imposing any ban, fee, or tax upon the use of paper or plastic bags for packaging any item or good purchased.” Shaul is the state director for the Missouri Grocer’s Association. 

The bill now heads to the Missouri Senate.