WASHINGTON – In the final hours of the legislative session on Tuesday, California lawmakers rejected a bill to ban plastic shopping bags.

The Associated Press writes that the Democratic bill “would have been the first statewide ban, although a few California cities already prohibit their use.” Those cities include San Francisco, Palo Alto, Fairfax and Malibu.

Supporters of the bill claim that the 19 billion plastic bags that California residents use every year “harm the environment and cost the state $25 million annually to collect and transport to landfills,” notes the AP. The bill would have implemented the ban in supermarkets and large retail stores in 2012, then in smaller stores in 2013.

Opponents argued that the ban would have added an “extra burden on consumers and businesses at a time when many already are struggling financially,” writes the AP.