SB0177 would amend the Illinois Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act to prohibit, beginning 18 months after the bill’s effective date, most stores and food service businesses from providing or selling single-use plastic carryout bags to customers. It would also prohibit grocery stores from providing or selling single-use paper carryout bags. The bill defines key terms such as “store,” “food service business,” “grocery store,” “carryout bag,” “single-use plastic carryout bag,” and “single-use paper carryout bag,” and it carves out several exceptions for items such as produce bags, meat and poultry bags, pharmacy prescription bags, newspaper bags, laundry/dry cleaning bags, and other similar bags identified by the state agency.
The bill also declares regulation of single-use plastic and paper carryout bags to be an exclusive state power, expressly preempting home rule units from adopting their own regulations in this area. In practical terms, this would create a statewide standard for bag restrictions and limit local governments from setting different or additional rules on these bags. The measure is effective immediately, but the bag restrictions themselves would not take effect until 18 months later.
The available record shows no committee transcripts and no recorded votes, so there is no documented legislative debate or formal vote history to gauge support or opposition. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be framed as an environmental and waste-reduction policy, with a focus on reducing disposable bag use and related solid waste.
Because there is no discussion record, specific points of contention are not documented in the provided materials. However, the bill’s main likely areas of debate are the statewide plastic bag ban, the separate restriction on paper bags at grocery stores, the scope of the business definitions affected, and the home rule preemption that would prevent local bag ordinances.
SB0177 would add a new Section 14 to the Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act, creating statewide restrictions on single-use carryout bags. It would prohibit stores and food service businesses from providing or selling single-use plastic carryout bags and prohibit grocery stores from providing or selling single-use paper carryout bags, while preserving several enumerated exceptions. It would also preempt local regulation by making bag regulation an exclusive state function, limiting home rule authority.
There is no committee transcript or voting history in the provided record, so the bill’s sentiment cannot be measured from debate or roll call data. The bill’s structure and caption suggest a policy goal of reducing plastic waste and encouraging reusable bags, which typically aligns with environmental and waste-reduction priorities. However, without recorded discussion, support and opposition cannot be attributed to any specific legislators, groups, or stakeholders.
No explicit points of contention are documented in the provided materials because there are no committee transcripts or votes. The most likely issues for debate are the ban on single-use plastic bags, the separate ban on single-use paper bags at grocery stores, the breadth of the businesses covered, and the home rule preemption that would override local bag policies. Retailers, grocery stores, food service businesses, and local governments would be the most directly affected parties.