What do machine guns, child labor, and balloons have in common? They are now all banned in the state of California.
Balloons, the seemingly harmless, feel-good party supply, have apparently caused large-scale problems for the electric supply companies in California. As a result, the State Senate voted to ban helium-filled metallic balloons from being sold beginning in 2010. Anyone caught selling them at this time will be fined $100. Sorry kids.
State Senator Jack Scott introduced the bill in February of 2008, and it was amended in March to the version that was passed last week.
According to the Pacific Gas and Electric Co., stray balloons caused more than 200 power outages last year in Northern California alone. They have been getting caught in the power lines, and because of their conductivity, they disrupt the electrical current.
Balloons are not the only culprits to electrical problems in California, but they are a little easier to control than the wind, mudslides, earthquakes, and fires the state normally confronts.
In opposition to California State Senate Bill 1499 to ban balloons is the Balloon Council, a lobbying group created in 1990 by manufacturers and retailers of both metallic and latex balloons. (It’s not clear whether clowns or party planners maintain memberships.)
The group was formed when a California law was passed in 1990 requiring balloons to be sold with weights attached to prevent fly-aways. Prior to that, legislators just waited for birds to eat them out of the sky.