Is Mike Gatto holding back state ban on plastic bags?

Mike Gatto chairs the Appropriations Committee in the Assembly in Sacramento. As committee chair, he is sitting on a bill, SB 270, that could prevent more than 10 billion non-biodegradable plastic bags from going into state dumps, street gutters, the ocean, and Los Angeles River. Now he's telling supporters he may vote against the bill, or let it die.

Gatto represents Los Feliz, East Hollywood, Atwater Village, much of Silver Lake as well as Glendale, in L.A. County. All these areas are among more than 100 localities in California that have banned single-use plastic bags. Why? Because they coat streets and green spaces and cost taxpayers millions to pull out of storm drains and rivers. And because the state's program of recycling polluting bags has totally failed, collecting less than 5 percent of them--and called "absolutely pathetic" by the lawmaker who sponsored the effort! 

The statewide ban, SB 270, has already passed one Assembly committee. But it's wasting away in Gatto's Appropriations Committee. That suits the largest maker of polluting bags just fine. Hilex Poly, based in South Carolina with no plants in California, is spending tens of thousands of dollars trying to kill our state bill. This includes a big check to Gatto. He accepted a $3,000 contribution from Hilex Poly for his current reelection campaign. Is that why he is telling supporters he may vote against the bill, or let it die in his committee? 

Stopping the bill is exactly what Grover Norquist, policy leader for the right wing in Washington, D.C., and buddy of the Koch Brothers, wrote and asked Gatto to do. Gatto is a Democrat, but his actions appear to give hope to Norquist and his far-right friends they may get their way. 

Mike Gatto should support SB 270 and stop the flow of polluting plastic bags into our neighborhoods, hillsides, rivers, and ocean. Residents should remind Gatto that we are paying millions to gather polluting bags from storm drains and river beds. We should urge him to support the large and growing industry in reusable bags that already exists in our state. And we should tell him it's time to take a stand for ordinary Californians and our environment, not out-of-state campaign contributors. 

Baker Montgomery is a former Los Angeles neighborhood council member from Eagle Rock and a resident of the 25th state Senate district, covering Pasadena and Glendale, where Assemblymember Mike Gatto is widely viewed as a likely candidate in 2016.