On Monday, December 1, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake fulfilled her promise to veto the bag ban bill passed in November by the city council in a 11-1 vote. This was only Rawlings-Blake’s second veto since taking office in 2010.
The Mayor stated that she believes the city council made a hasty decision to ban plastic bags used by most grocery stores and retailers. Originally the legislation would have imposed a 5-cent tax on bags, but the council changed the bill at the last-minute to ban all plastic bags. The Mayor said she did not believe this gave the public the opportunity to weigh in on the change.
At this point an override of the veto is unlikely. 12 of the 15 council members are required to vote for an override; numbers that supporters of the bag ban admit they don’t have.
Earlier this year NFIB/Maryland opposed the state-wide 5-cent bag tax that was considered by the Maryland General Assembly. The bill died in committee. (read more here)
History:
Baltimore City Council changes bag fee bill to ban; Mayor threatens veto
