SACRAMENTO – This week Californians approved a ballot measure, Proposition 67, to implement a statewide ban on plastic bags.

The Sacramento Bee reports that the ban takes effect immediately, meaning that grocery stores, retail stores with a pharmacy, convenience stores, food marts and liquor stores will no longer provide single-use plastic carry-out bags to customers. For customers who forget to bring their own bag, they will pay at least 10 cents for a recycled paper bag or reusable alternative.

The news source writes that the plastic bag industry paid for Proposition 67 to qualify for the ballot as a referendum to Senate Bill 270. The law banned single-use plastic bags and would have taken effect on January 1, 2015, but the industry’s referendum halted the ban from going into effect until voters weighed in at the polls.

About 150 cities and counties across California, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland and Long Beach, had already banned bags before this week’s vote. The statewide law allows municipalities to continue to operate under their own guidelines if the ordinances were adopted before January 1, 2015. If they were not, then the communities must comply with the new state law.

Proposition 67 gives retailers the right to keep revenue from sales of alternative bags to cover compliance costs with the ban.