As the public and the legislature began to focus on the proposed bill to criminalize the sale of metallic foil balloons, several facts came to light that helped our policymakers to understand that making it a crime to sell a balloon was unwarranted and unnecessary.

• Of the roughly 6,000 annual power outages, the California Public Utility Commission reports none attributable to foil balloons.
• The National Federation of Independent Businesses, United Food and Commercial Workers, the California Grocers Association, the California Retailers Association, and the California State Floral Association are among the groups that opposed to the bill to ban balloons.
• A law to regulate the sale of foil balloons was already passed in 1990, requiring persons who sell or distribute balloons constructed of electrically conductive material, filled with a gas lighter than air, to attach an object that is heavy enough to counter that lift capability of the balloon.
• This law also mandated that warning statements be included on the electrically conductive balloon to inform the consumer of the risk involved with the balloon coming in contact electrical power lines. This printed information also includes the identification of the manufacturer of the balloon.
• The Public Utility Commission’s public education campaign has worked, as inadvertent releases of balloons has dropped precipitously.
• Sales of helium-filled foil balloons generate approximately $100 million for California businesses, both small and large. Indirect sales, such as foil balloons attached to flowers and plants, total $900 million.
• Balloon sales and the sale of related products generate an estimated $80 million each year in direct tax revenues. Outlawing these sales would only worsen the state’s fiscal dilemma.