Statewide Legislation

There is renewed effort in Pennsylvania to pass legislation to preempt municipalities from banning or placing a fee, surcharge or tax on auxiliary containers. Recall, Governor Wolf (D) vetoed the plastic bag-specific preemption bill in June. In his veto message, he stated that the bill raised some constitutional issues including taking power from local governments. Legislators are attempting to add the auxiliary container preemption language to fiscal or tax code bills. The draft language for the amendment is the same bill language used in Michigan. The Pennsylvania legislature must pass a fiscal code in order to move forward on passing the overall state budget. A version of the fiscal code passed the Senate and House earlier this week and if passed by the Governor