California legislators, once again, chose not to move forward with what would have been a first-in-the-nation bill to tether caps to plastic water bottles.
What happened: The Senate Appropriations Committee held the bill Friday during their suspense file reckoning, effectively killing its chances of passing. SB 45 from Democratic Sens. Steve Padilla and Catherine Blakespear would have required all single-use plastic bottles under 3 liters to have a tethered cap. It was modeled after a mandate the European Union adopted last year.
Context:The bill was opposed by the American Beverage Association. In February, the association’s vice president, Rick Rivas, who is the brother of Assembly Speaker Rob Rivas, sent a letter to Padilla outlining his concerns with the legislation.
“At a time when Californians are grappling with one of the highest costs of living in the nation, this legislation would unnecessarily increase costs for consumers and businesses, placing an additional burden on families and industries across the state,” he wrote. “Transitioning to this new standard would require substantial retooling of production lines, leading to increased manufacturing costs. These costs will inevitably be passed on to consumers, further straining household budgets in an already challenging economic environment.”
