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AP20:003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2020
CONTACT:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575
Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation
Requires State Regulations to Reduce Plastic Waste, Tax Producers of Single-Use Plastics, and Fund Recycling and Environmental Programs. Initiative Statute.
SACRAMENTO, CA - Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced that the proponents of a new initiative were cleared to begin collecting petition signatures yesterday.
The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponents and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponents and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:
REQUIRES STATE REGULATIONS TO REDUCE PLASTIC WASTE, TAX PRODUCERS OF SINGLE-USE PLASTICS, AND FUND RECYCLING AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Requires CalRecycle to adopt regulations reducing plastic waste, including to: (1) require that single-use plastic packaging, containers, and utensils be reusable, recyclable, or compostable, and to reduce such waste by 25%, by 2030; (2) prohibit polystyrene container use by food vendors; and (3) tax producers of single-use plastic packaging, containers, or utensils by January 1, 2022, and allocate revenues for recycling and environmental programs, including local water supply protection. Prohibits Legislature from reducing funding to specified state environmental agencies below 2019 levels. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: State revenue from new tax on single-use plastic packaging and foodware likely in the range of a few billion dollars annually. Revenues would be used to administer and implement programs intended to reduce waste, increase recycling, and restore habitats. Unknown net effect on local governments. There would likely be increased costs for waste collecting and sorting which might be partially or fully offset by new tax revenue, payments from producers to support recycling, or lower costs associated with a reduction in total plastic waste collected. (19-0028A1.)
The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1885 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 19-0028.
The proponents of the measure, Michael J. Sangiacomo, Caryl Hart, and Linda Escalante, must collect signatures of 623,212 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2018 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponents have 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than July 07, 2020. The proponents can be reached c/o Emily A. Andrews of Olson, Hagel, & Fishburn, LLP at (916) 442-2952. The address for Olson, et al., LLP is 555 Capitol Mall, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA 95814.
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