In an effort to stop the practice before it spreads, the Arizona House voted Tuesday to block cities from regulating plastic bags.
The legislation is being pushed by retailers, grocers and restaurants. They fear the efforts in places like Tempe and Flagstaff to follow the lead of Bisbee, which put a nickel-a-bag fee on single-use sacks.
Bisbee's ordinance is designed to encourage people to use cloth or at least bring their own bags back for reuse.
While most Republicans supported the measure, freshman Noel Campbell did not.
"As a Republican and as a conservative and as a conservationist, there's a lot of reasons for me to vote no on this bill. But the primary one is local control. If we really believe in what we talk about, we want that control at the lowest level," said Campbell.
Phoenix Democrat Ken Clark said there are economic development reasons the state should not step in.
"It's going to make it harder for us to keep our state clean. And if our state's not clean, the folks who come here and spend money in our state will notice that and may not come back," said Clark.
The pleas, however, were ignored by the majority. The measure cleared the House on a 37-23 vote.