By Anthony Macuk

The Columbian

State lawmakers are recycling a proposed statewide ban on all single-use plastic bags at grocery store checkout lines.

The proposal, in the form of a bill that died in the Legislature last session, wouldn’t apply to the kind of bags used to hold fruit, vegetables or bulk items. It would also add an 8-cent charge for other bags, to encourage customers to bring their own reusables.

Several counties and cities have already passed their own versions of a ban, and the bill’s sponsors point to the growing number as a sign that the legislation stands a better chance this time around.

“At this time last year, 28 local jurisdictions already had single-use plastic bag bans on the books,” one of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Mona Das, D-Kent, said in an email. “Now, a total of 37 local jurisdictions have banned single-use plastic bags, which means this policy is only gaining momentum in the court of public opinion.”