TOM JOHNSON / NJ SPOTLIGHT – A last-ditch bid to salvage a proposed statewide ban on single-use plastic and paper bags, as well as other plastics, inched forward in the Senate yesterday — but the bill still remains on life support, at best.
In an unexpected move, the Senate voted to amend a bill once hailed as the United States’ most comprehensive ban on single-use bags during a tumultuous penultimate lame-duck legislative session that featured contentious debates on banning vaping products and other issues.
The critical amendments, approved by a 22-0 vote without any debate, would delay the ban on single-use plastic and paper bags, as well as polystyrene cups, for two years. The original bill put a ban on single-use plastic bags in one year, and paper bags in two years …