DEMOCRATS PASS PLASTIC BAG TAXWhat a bunch of idiots. People who are already struggling aren't going to have the extra funds to go out and buy canvas shopping bags, let alone the desire to drag them to the store every time they shop. And if grocery stores have to do this, what about retail stores? Those Old Navy or Macy's bags are a lot bigger than what the grocery stores have and they're not as easily reusable. Are the Democrats going to go after Big Clothing like they're going after Big Grocery, Big Oil, Big Energy, Big Telephone, Big Drug, Big (you fill in the blank)? The only "Big" they don't want to go after is Big Terrorist.
Measure Would Add Hundreds of Dollars to Grocery Bills Every Year
SACRAMENTO – Today, Assembly Democrats passed a costly measure that imposes a new tax of at least 25 cents per bag on plastic and paper bags used at grocery stores. Republicans opposed the measure, arguing it would add hundreds of dollars a year to the grocery bills of working families at a time when they are paying record prices for food and gasoline.
“Hard-working Californians are struggling to pay record-high prices for food and gas; the last thing they need are higher taxes,” said Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, of Fresno. “This bill will hurt families by forcing shoppers to pay a new tax on every paper and plastic bag they use at grocery stores, making grocery bills even more expensive.”
Assembly Bill 2058, by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, would force grocery stores to increase the recycling of the paper and plastic bags they provide for their customers by at least 70 percent over their 2007 recycling rates through in-store programs. If they fail to meet this level, they would be required by law to charge a tax of at least 25 cents for every paper and plastic bag used by shoppers. If the stores do not divert enough bags from landfills or if they refuse to charge the new tax, they would be prohibited by law from providing bags altogether.
Assembly Republicans said that Californians will lose under AB 2058, forced to find their own shopping bags to use at the grocery store every week or pay an expensive new tax. They noted that most Californians go to the grocery store more than once per week, and almost always use paper or plastic bags to carry home their groceries. This could mean hundreds of dollars in higher taxes for California families every year.
GOP lawmakers also argued that Californians should not be forced to pay a bag tax of at least 25 cents per bag to recycle them, when it only costs stores one cent to furnish plastic bags and 5 to 6 cents for paper bags.
“Punishing Californians who use paper and plastic bags to carry their groceries home with higher taxes is not the answer to reducing littering and cleaning up our state,” said Villines. “Forcing shoppers to pay a new plastic bag tax will hurt working families especially hard. I’m sure we can find other, more responsible ways to address our state’s litter problems without higher taxes.”
AB 2058 was approved during today’s Assembly floor session on a party-line vote, with no Republicans voting in support. The measure now goes to the State Senate for consideration.
It's funny how the conventional "wisdom" has changed over the years. First, we all used paper grocery bags and then somebody decided we were killing too many trees. Along came the plastic bag to save the trees, and now too many of them are ending up in landfills. So, we go back to the paper bags because trees are a renewable resource and paper bags quickly decompose in landfills. That's not good enough, though, because now we have to tax them all.
I'm pretty much convinced that there are no signs of intelligent life in Sacramento and Washington D.C.
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