The real problem with the plastic bag bill – WRONG PRIORITY!

by Sen. Jeff Kruse (R-Roseburg)

excerpt from Sen. Kruse’s E-newsletter

Yesterday the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee took three hours to hear testimony on a bill to ban plastic bags in Oregon.  I could take a whole page to explain how the data and false science behind this bill are wrong (there are no massive islands of plastic in the ocean and plastic does degrade when exposed to sunlight), or how this is a clear further government invasion of what should be our personal choices.  I could even talk about how the grocery industry is supporting the bill because they would then be able to charge $0.05 a bag at checkout. Or I could talk about the many health risks of reusable bags or the fact the reusable bags are made in China from plastic and contain lead.  But I won’t go into those issues or how this is just another example of the “nanny state” bills we see filed every session.

Why are we dealing with such unneeded and unnecessary bills when we have the massive job of reshaping our government on our hands?  The answer is clear; even in these tough times there are still people in the Legislature who want government control of everything.   This is not about protecting us or any of the best interest sophistry we hear so much about; this is simply about control and power.  If we really want to pull Oregon out of this recession we need to be limiting government not expanding it.  A private sector free of unnecessary government restraints is the only way back to prosperity for our state.  This should be our one and only job.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet and for the record, I think the plastic bag bill is stupid and I will vote against it if it ever makes it out of committee.