Cuyahoga County and the communities of Bexley in central Ohio and Orange in northeast Ohio have voted to ban plastic bags at retailers, with fees or fines for those that violate them. Now, a state lawmaker has a bill to bag those bans by targeting those fees.
Rep. George Lang (R-West Chester) said his bill isn’t about the environment. He said it’s about the many taxing jurisdictions in Ohio.
“We are just stopping the ability to tax," Lang said.
Lang said 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 Lang said it’ll 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.”
Lang said 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.