(From the latimes.com)  California lawmakers passed wide-ranging public compensation reforms inspired by the Bell municipal salary scandal in the waning hours of the 2010 legislative session, but a closely watched, first-in-the-nation ban on plastic grocery bags was defeated Tuesday night.

That measure, AB 1998, passed the Assembly in June and had the support of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but faced a withering and well-financed advertising and lobbying campaign from the plastic bag manufacturing industry.

“I think we missed a great opportunity,” said the measure’s author, Julia Brownley (D- Santa Monica), as the bill failed another Senate vote just before 11 p.m.

Among the Bell-related reforms lawmakers approved were AB 900 by Assemblyman Kevin De Leon (D- Los Angeles), which would offer $2.9 million in property tax refunds to overcharged city residents, and a ban on automatic pay raises that exceed the cost of living index built into the contracts of local government officials.

Read more here: California legislators OK pay reforms inspired by Bell scandal