Gov. Mike DeWine, who once opposed the idea of barring local governments from banning plastic bags and other containers or materials, is signaling he’ll soon sign a bill approved by Ohio state legislature into law.
The bill preventing cities from passing bans on plastic bags and single-use containers has been revised from its original form. The new version would only be in place for one year – and that’s why DeWine changed his position.
“And I will sign the bill because it is temporary and I think you can make an argument for it because of the COVID period," DeWine said.
The governor opposed the original idea because he thinks communities should have local control over such matters. But with so many places offering carry out during the pandemic, and most grocery stores backing off the expectation of customers to bring their own bags when shopping under coronavirus restrictions, now is not the time for such bans, DeWine said.
After months of revisions and disagreements between Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland on bag bans and their enforcement, the county discussed delaying the bag ban in April and made the move official in June. Cuyahoga County’s plastic bag ban would not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2021, due to concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic, but could be further delayed by the temporary state law.
ideastream's Gayle S. Putrich contributed to this report.
Copyright 2020 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.
