Balloon ban fails in the Senate

A proposal to ban the sale of helium-filled Mylar balloons in California ran out of air Monday in the state Senate, where it fell five votes short of passing.

Sen. Jack Scott (D- Altadena) proposed the ban at the request of Burbank electric utility officials who said the metallic balloons have caused several power outages after becoming tangled in power lines.

“I’m not a party pooper,” Scott told his colleagues. “I’m not standing up and speaking out against balloons in general. This is a public safety matter.”

Opponents of the measure said it overreached and could harm the balloon industry.

Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta) said he had not seen evidence that the balloons were a major problem: “They really don’t cause the trouble to warrant shutting down an entire portion of business in California.”

-- Patrick McGreevy