Montana Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Phase Out Styrofoam Use in Food Industry

Gianforte called the bill ‘costly government overreach;’ sponsor says governor didn’t understand it

By Micah Drew, Daily Montanan

Top view of a stack of polystyrene containers (number 6 plastic).

Governor Greg Gianforte went beyond the regular duties of his office — sending a letter to lawmakers informing them of the reasons he vetoed a bill — and shared a video on social media explaining why he didn’t sign a measure that would have phased out the use of styrofoam in the food industry.

“This bill would create a new government program costing $300,000,” said Republican Gianforte in the video on May 5, the day he vetoed the bill. “The state banning styrofoam is costly government overreach, and like many Montanans, I enjoy hot coffee in a styrofoam cup, because it keeps it hot. And this bill is a hot mess.”

But the sponsor of House Bill 477, Representative Marilyn Marler, D-Missoula, said she didn’t think the governor understood what the law actually intended — protecting human health and the environment.

House Bill 477 would have created a five-year phaseout of expanded polystyrene foam — commonly called “styrofoam” — containers used in serving or packaging food from restaurants and food establishments. The phase out, which would have applied to roughly 7,500 establishments in Montana, would have included coffee cups, plates, trays and other food and drink containers.

It would not have applied to other industries, such as packaging and shipping products, which the bill sponsor and other proponents said was intended to address some of the direct harms of styrofoam.

Studies have shown that hot, fatty and acidic conditions — for example a takeout container of pork carnitas — can cause styrofoam to leach chemicals into food, increasing the amount ingested and contributing to the growing number of microplastics found throughout human bodies.

Styrene and other chemicals found in food packaging have been linked to cancer, hormone disruption and other chronic health conditions, a fact that created a diverse coalition of supporters for HB 477.

Senator Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, carried the bill through the Senate and described himself as a “Make America Healthy Again Republican.”

“I don’t think people realize the fact that it leaches into food,” he told the Daily Montanan. “Change is hard, but children have these chemicals leaching into their food, and we just know more about that than we used to. It seemed like a logical thing since we’ve realized how unhealthy it is.”

Zolnikov said it was worth getting the bill through the Legislature, but that the governor’s veto was “probably to be expected.”

House lawmakers passed the bill 56-44 in March, and the Senate passed the bill 26-24 in April.

All Democrats and a total 26 Republicans voted for the bill, and Marler said many businesses had supported the bill.

But Gianforte, in his veto letter, said that styrofoam bans and “hyper-regulation” are features found in progressive blue states — such as Oregon, Washington California and New York — and don’t belong in Montana.

Calling it “textbook government overreach,” Gianforte said banning styrofoam would increase costs for restaurants and consumers and create a new government program at the Department of Environmental Quality.

“I’d prefer to keep government limited, not grow it unnecessarily,” he wrote.

Marler also said Gianforte misrepresented the cost of the bill, which would not have come from taxpayer funds. Instead, it would have come from an existing Solid Waste Management Account funded by fees paid by businesses seeking exemption from the phase-out, or by fines levied by DEQ. Roughly $75,000 a year would have paid for a part-time employee to oversee parts of the program.

Gianforte’s veto letter also questioned why the legislation was aimed at only the food industry, which “seems inconsistent with the purported purpose of House BIll 477.”

Marler said she tried to set up a meeting with the Governor to help talk about the bill after it passed the Legislature, but never heard anything back.

“I just feel that if he had looked at the vote count and seen the variety of people who voted for it and asked just one question, he would have heard that people were really concerned about the health effects,” Marler said.

In addition to House Bill 477, Gianforte has vetoed one other bill as of Tuesday afternoon, House Bill 607, sponsored by Democrat Paul Tuss, to expand insurance coverage for hearing loss.