"SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers have rejected a bill seeking to ban plastic shopping bags, after a contentious debate over whether the state was going too far in trying to regulate personal choice.

It would have been the first statewide ban, although a few cities already prohibit their use.

The Democratic bill had been the subject of a furious lobbying campaign by the plastic bag manufacturing industry, which called it a job killer."

Robin Hindery reports for the Associated Press September 1, 2010. [2]