Yesterday afternoon, the state Assembly narrowly approved AB 1319, a bill introduced by Assemblymember Betsy Butler that would ban the use of toxic chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) in children’s feeding containers. We are celebrating this milestone at CLCV, but it’s too early to declare victory.
Because the powerful chemical industry is doing everything that it can to kill this bill, the bill had to be brought up twice for a vote. The first time, it narrowly missed passage, receiving 39 votes:
Assemblymember Butler and advocates worked hard in the next hour to find the two more votes needed for passage. At CLCV, we called our members to generate calls to legislators who had not voted.
An hour later, Butler brought AB 1319 up for a vote again and for several seconds no new votes came in. After a while, Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski voted aye, and just before the vote was closed, Assemblymember Joan Buchanan voted aye. It passed with the bare minimum of 41 votes.
We are facing an uphill battle against a powerful industry, but we don’t intend to let them win. This is a fight we can’t afford to lose.
Help us win this fight by joining more than 1600 people who have signed a petition urging our state officials to ban BPA in baby products. Sign the petition: Tell state leaders to stand up for kids, not the chemical industry.
For several years, CLCV has worked to pass a bill to ban BPA from children’s feeding containers in California. Many other states and countries have already banned this toxic chemical from baby bottles. By passing this law in California, we’ll help protect children around the country, due to the fact that our state represents such a large market that manufacturers tend to conform their production standards to ours.
The fight in the Assembly was difficult, and we expect it to be even harder in the state Senate. Tell the state legislature and Governor Brown to stand up for the 550,000 babies who will be born in California this year and ban BPA from their feeding containers.
The chemical industry has succeeded over and over again in killing this common-sense health protection with fear tactics, phony science and millions of dollars. Don’t let them win this time.
