Littering fines, plastic bag prices to increase this summer

OLYMPIA — In Washington, customers will begin to pay more for plastic bags, and those who choose to litter will be facing high fines after Gov. Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 1293 into law Saturday. “People who dump garbage in our beautiful state must be held accountable,” said sponsor Rep. Mark Klicker, R-Walla Walla, in a statement. “Increasing the littering penalty for the first time since 1993 is an important step in addressing our horrible littering problem.” HB 1293, which received bipartisan support and ultimately passed with a 46-2 vote in the House and a 27-20 vote in the senate raises the penalty for littering to a class 2 civil infraction. Littering was previously a class 3 civil infraction.