The torturous uphill battle of Hawaii’s statewide bag bill has bewildered its countless and widespread supporters. Representative Marcus Oshiro has taken to announcing that the legislature will not pass the bill this year, although it is still alive and awaits its journey through conference committee and ultimately a floor vote. HB 2483’s fate is at the mercy of recalcitrant House members determined not to bend to popular support over personal interests! Once the conference committee members are known, we will have a short window to ask specific members to make sure the single-use bag bill lands on the supportive Governor’s desk, to be signed into law. In the meantime, please keep the pressure on key House member Representative Marcus Oshiro by calling his office at (808) 586-6200, and House Speaker Calvin Say at (808)-586-6100, and telling them you expect the bag bill to keep moving.

We are also putting our forces behind Bill 10, the City and County of Honolulu’s bag bill. In current form, Bill 10 would only apply to plastic bags, and would start off as a 3 cent fee, and going up to 5 cents after 1 year. After an undetermined time period, the fee will become a ban. Ultimately, a plastic bag ban would be a huge environmental victory, a goal that many of us have been working towards for years now. We hope to add paper bags to the county bill, with the ultimate outcome of a plastic bag ban coupled with a paper bag fee. The next hearing for the county bag bill has not been scheduled, but is expected to take place near the end of the month.