Bill pitting sea turtles vs. Americans for Prosperity advances in House

A House panel supported a bill to continue blocking local governments from banning plastic bags, plastic cups and other single-use containers.

Republican Rep. Omar Blanco’s preemption bill also would undo a requirement for the Department of Environmental Protection to study and update its 2010 report on retail bags and how to regulate them.

“I’m a big user of plastic bags, but I’m also a responsible user of plastic bags,” the first-term Representative said during the Natural Resources and Disasters Subcommittee meeting. “When you start making those restrictions, it just doesn’t give people the opportunity,”

The Miami Republican’s legislation (HB 565) pitted sea turtle conservationists against American for Prosperity, plastic bag producers and retailers.

The bill would update the law to expressly say that banning auxiliary containers is preempted at the local level. Democrats raised concerns about reports of microplastics being dangerous for babies and adults.

“I really dislike preemption bills,” said Rep. Kelly Skidmore, a Boca Raton Democrat, during debate. “We have very, very environmentally sensitive lands around our state, and the people who live there want to be able to protect those areas, and why wouldn’t we let them? Why would we say we know best in Tallahassee — landlocked Tallahassee — that we’re going to tell everybody else what to do?”

Blanco argued that he likes having a choice as a consumer to get plastic bags when he shops for groceries.

“I’ve worked firsthand in these establishments,” the firefighter said. “I actually did a day at a restaurant,” Blanco added, where he realized that customers and restaurants “want everything in a plastic bag.”

Stacey Gallagher, policy coordinator at Florida’s Sea Turtle Conservancy, argued that plastic is not only deadly to animals but comes with an economic cost.

“Our coast brings in hundreds of billions of dollars and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs each year,” Gallagher said. “Millions of visitors who spend their hard-earned money in our state want our beaches and their waterways to be free of trash.”

In closing on his bill, Blanco pledged to work with conservation groups.

“I love sea turtles, and I’m willing to talk to this group here that spoke, because I do want to find solutions to these issues,” Blanco said. “I just don’t think that this has ever been one that’s produced what we really need.”