Bill Banning Junk Mail Rejected

Erin Spinka

Sacramento, Calif. -- The California State Legislature’s Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Committee recently voted down a bill that would have required companies that send direct mail, to provide free returns for the unwanted mailings. So, for example, AOL would have been required to provide free return for its disks. According to Assembly Member Loni Hancock, who wrote the bill, and Mark Murray, the executive director for Californians Against Waste, who sponsored the bill, 380 million tons of free CD’s are thrown away each year at taxpayers’ expense. The bill, which had passed the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, was rejected because the committee felt the issue was more of an annoyance than a threat to the environment. Hancock plans to reintroduce the bill in the future, sources say.