A bill to create a statewide ban on single-use plastic shopping bags was defeated on May 30 after the measure, authored by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), failed to receive the 21 votes necessary for approval in the State Senate.

The bill, SB 405, would have phased out single-use plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and pharmacies beginning in 2015, and at liquor and convenience stores in 2016. Padilla said he was disappointed because single-use plastic shopping bags are a significant source of pollution in the state. The vote was 18-17 in favor of passage, with four of the 40 senators abstaining. The measure needed a majority of 21 yes votes to pass. There is currently one vacant seat in the State Senate.

“SB 405 received broad support from business and environmental organizations and was a common sense solution to phasing out single-use plastic bags, which cost consumers and local governments millions of dollars every year,” Padilla said. “While I’m disappointed … I am convinced that a statewide policy is only a matter of time.”

John Mann, a deputy for Padilla, said the bill’s defeat was particularly disappointing given the fact that 75 cities and counties throughout California, including the cities of Los Angeles, West Hollywood and Santa Monica, as well as Los Angeles County, have banned single-use plastic bags. He said while bag bans have largely been enacted in coastal regions, they are not as common in interior portions of the state. Mann said it was “interesting” that three Democratic senators from the Los Angeles region — Sens. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), Ricardo Lara (D-Long Beach) and Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) — voted against SB 405, although bag bans are already in place in their districts. The other no votes were cast by Sens. Joel Anderson (R-San Diego), Tom Berryhill (R-Fresno), Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres), Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), Bill Emmerson (R-Redlands), Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield), Ted Gaines (R-Rocklin), Bob Huff (R-Brea), Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), Jim Nielsen (R-Chico), Norma Torres (D-Pomona), Mimi Walters (R-Irvine), Mark Wyland (R-Carlsbad) and Leland Yee (D-San Francisco). Abstaining from voting were Sens. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood), Lois Wolk (D-Napa), Ben Hueso (D-Indio) and Curren Price Jr. (D-Los Angeles).

Representatives for Lara, De Leon and Calderon said the senators cast no votes because of the impact the bill would have on the estimated 2,000 workers in the plastic bag manufacturing industry statewide. Lizette Mata, a spokeswoman for Lara, said the senator supports allowing individual cities and counties to pass plastic shopping bag bans, but a statewide ban would have caused a “large loss of jobs in the district.” Lara represents the 33rd State Senate District, which stretches from Long Beach to the south, to the city of Vernon to the north.

Claire Conlon, a spokeswoman for De Leon, said the senator’s “biggest concern” was job losses, a position Calderon spokesman Rocky Rushing reiterated.

“There is significant doubt left in the minds of many that maybe a ban on plastic bags is not necessarily the right way to go about it without additional recycling programs and job creation,” Rushing added.

Price, whose 26th District stretches from South Los Angeles to the south to Hollywood to the north, has stated that a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags could adversely affect low-income individuals and small businesses in his district.

Padilla, and many other lawmakers, disagreed. In addition to 18 state senators, SB 405 was supported by the California Retailers Association, Heal the Bay, the California League of Conservation Voters and many other organizations. “California is known throughout the world for its pioneering policies to protect the environment and transform our economy,” he said. “[The] vote on SB 405 is contrary to California’s leadership and legacy.”