Feb 25 - Public Vote Upholds Issaquah, WA Bag Ban

A voter initiative to overturn the Issaquah, WA bag ban has fallen short, as today's final results showed that the public agrees with the city council's decision to ban plastic bags in 2012.

Issaquah's ordinance bans single-use plastic bags and places a $0.05 charge on paper bags. It has been in place in grocery stores since March 2013.

According to KIROTV, proposed initiative Proposition 1 would have repealed the current ordinance in place and required any future regulations on carry out bags to obtain a majority vote from the city council and a majority vote from the voters.

Proposition 1 required a simple majority to pass. A 'Yes' on the proposition would repeal the bag ban, a 'No' would keep it in place. Issaquah has 19,302 registered voters in the city and 39% of the registered voters weighed in. The certified results released today showed that 52% of the voters supported the bag ban and voted 'No' on Prop 1.

Similarly, when plastic bag bans were introduced to Seattle, WA and Bellingham, WA they were met with satisfaction from the populace. 64% of Seattle residents and 67% of Bellingham residents agreed with the plastic bag bans their cities had passed, according to a survey conducted by Environment Washington.

For details about the Issaquah’s ordinance go here. See the list of local bag bans nationwide.

For details about Proposition 1 go here.

Learn more about California’s state bag ban, SB 270.