Hawaii’s first lady is joining environmental groups in calling on state lawmakers to take a vote on a bill that would charge a fee every time a shopper chooses a disposable paper or plastic bag.

Nancie Caraway will be joining representatives from the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, Times and Safeway supermarkets, the Surfrider Foundation and the Sierra Club Hawaii at a press conference today.

Caraway’s husband Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s administration has supported House Bill 2483, which would encourage residents to bring reusable bags with them when they go shopping, or pay a fee that will help protect the state’s watersheds.

The bill has been sent to a conference committee, which will have to get it into final form by April 27 to have a floor vote in both chamber