Legislation to require California grocery and convenience stores to charge shoppers for paper or plastic bags was derailed this week by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Assembly Bills 68 and 87 would have required shoppers to pay 25 cents per single-use carry-out bag to reduce waste, promote reusable bags, and decrease the volume of plastic bags that litter waterways and pose a danger to wildlife.
Assemblyman Mike Davis, a Los Angeles Democrat who crafted AB 87, said he expects the issue to be revived later this year because cash-strapped local governments are increasingly struggling with litter cleanup.
The fee would have cost the state about $300,000 to implement and perhaps $1 million annually to enforce and collect, but it could have raised millions each year for cleanup, public service announcements, donations of reusable bags to community groups, and other litter-reduction efforts, according to committee analyses of the two bills.
Mark Murray of Californians Against Waste, which lobbies on recycling issues, said the proposed 25-cent fee faced an uphill fight at a time when the state and its taxpayers are struggling financially.
"I think the idea of a high fee on single-use bags may be more than policymakers are prepared to swallow in light of the economy," Murray said. "I think there will be a look at a more modest (5- or 10-cent) proposal."
Latest posts:
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.