(Columbus) - The Ohio Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would put a one-year moratorium on local bans of the use of disposable plastic bags by stores. The bill has been sent back to the Ohio House, which last year, passed a bill that would make such a ban on local bag bans permanent.
The bills passed the legislature after they were introduced by Republicans, and were supported by business groups, such as retail merchants and grocers.
Whatever passes through a conference committee and eventually goes to Governor Mike DeWine for his signature, would put on hold, either temporarily or permanently, plastic bag bans such as the one in Cuyahoga County. That was to have gone into effect January 1. Enforcement of the law was later pushed back to July 1, and Cuyahoga County Council had planned to take up pushing back enforcement even further. That's because, during the pandemic, many stores have asked customers to not use their own bags.