A scottsboro lawmaker wants to stop cities and counties from banning plastic grocery bags.

It comes as cities across the country not only ban the bags, but plastic straws as well.

Thanks for joining us -- i'm dan shaffer.

And i'm najahe sherman.

Waay 31's casey albritton explains the reasoning behind the bill.

I'm here at a local grocery store, where i talked to several shoppers about what they prefer to use to bag up their groceries.

Some said they prefer plastic bags like these, while others say they would rather use bags that are good for the environment.

Benjamin coleman "if you have something that has a positive impact like paper bags or regular bags then that would be more friendly to the environment than plastic bags."

Benjamin coleman says he doesn't use plastic bags at the grocery store.

He says a bill to keep local governments from banning plastic bags is a bad idea.

Benjamin coleman "there is a lot going on with the fish and animals having to suffer."

Glenna tucker says she approves of the bill.

Glenna tucker "i don't see that it is a provlem...you're not going to get everyone to get reusable bags."

The bill was introduced by scottsboro republican, senator steve livingston... he says the state needs to be uniform.

The house companion bill is sponsored by house majority leader, nathaniel ledbetter ... who says keeping plastic bags in stores will also keep people from losing their jobs.

Rep.

Nathaniel ledbetter/ alabama house majority leader "we certainly don't need to harm or damage the people who are making a living at these companies across the state that are producing these bags."

Ledbetter says the issue isn't the bags ..

It's people littering.

Tucker doesn't think the bill will have a large impact on the city of huntsville, or the state.

Glenna tucker "as long as i still have the option to use my bags and i'm only speaking for me i would say that that's fine."

Instead of akridge info, talk about what happened in house committee with this bill, and what teh next step is huntsville city council member, frances akridge didn't want to go on camera, but she told waay 31 she doesn't like the idea of the state controlling what cities can do.

She also said she's concerned about the impact plastic bags have on the environment.

Waay 31 did some digging -- and it turns out bans on "bans" are more common than bans on plastic bags themselves!

Right now -- only new york, california, and hawaii have outright bans on single use plastic bags.

But -- 12 states have "pre- emptions."

That means the state decisions overrides the local government's action