Thread: Only in California....

Democrat Plastic Bag Tax Will Hurt Working Families
There is no debate when it comes to the importance of recycling in our state, and the need for all Californians to do our part to reduce littering.
But Assembly Democrats have taken the push to encourage more recycling to a new extreme this week by passing a misguided proposal that will force grocery stores to charge their customers a new tax of at least 25-cents-per-bag on all the paper and plastic bags they use to take groceries home.
Assembly Bill 2058, by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), would force grocery stores to increase the recycling of paper and plastic grocery bags by at least 70 percent over their 2007 recycling rates through in-store programs. If a store fails to recycle enough bags, it would be required to charge the new tax or else be prohibited from giving their customers bags at all.
It simply doesn't make sense that California consumers would be forced to pay a new tax of 25 cents or more per bag for recycling efforts when it only costs grocery stores one cent to provide plastic bags and 5 to 6 cents for paper bags.
But the 25-cent-per-bag tax could be only just the beginning. AB 2058 also allows local governments to charge their own bag tax on top of that, meaning we could be paying even more in taxes in communities across the state.
There's no doubt that this bill will hurt California's working families especially hard. They will be forced to find their own shopping bags to use at the grocery store or be forced to pay an expensive new tax.
Considering most Californians make more than one trip to the grocery store every week, and use several paper and plastic bags to carry home their groceries, this bill could add up to hundreds of dollars in higher taxes on Californians.
Working families are already struggling to afford the record-high prices of food and gasoline in our state. They want relief from their state government, not higher taxes.
In addition, there are potential unintended consequences which may actually cause greater harm to the environment. When the city of San Francisco banned plastic bags, the suppliers of the bags found that where they used to be able to supply all of the stores in the city in one trip in their trucks, because of the increase size and weight of the paper bags, it now took and additional seven trips to supply the same number of stores, thus, creating a much larger carbon footprint.
Recycling is extremely important, but this bill will do very little to reduce littering or clean up our state. Some stores are already offering their customers a cash incentive of 6 to 10 cents per bag to return them to the store for recycling. We should be encouraging those efforts and other incentives, not raising taxes. Rather than punishing shoppers for using a paper or plastic bag, lawmakers should be working together to find better, more responsible ways to reduce littering and increase recycling without new taxes.
Assemblyman Cameron Smyth is the Co-Chair of the Assembly Republican Task Force on Energy, the Environment and the Economy.

On Fri, 6/6/08, Assemblymember Cameron Smyth <info@votesmyth.com> wrote:

From: Assemblymember Cameron Smyth <info@votesmyth.com>
Subject: May eNewsletter - Cameron Smyth

I've shopped in places with no bags where you use their empty boxes to pack in if they have any. I recycle and re-use my plastic bags but some are so cheaply made they barely hold together for 1 shopping trip, let alone another. Even bought those new cloth (sort of) shopping bags they have been selling in the store.....unfortunatly I keep forgetting to take them with me and they don't hold much. I can't afford a different bag for each individual item, let alone always remember to take them all with me each time. Customer service has gone down hill so bad it's almost like they don't want your business anymore. One store makes you pay a quarter to use a cart....if you take it back and if the coin thing works, it's supposed to give your quarter back. You are out of luck though if you have 2 dimes and a nickle because it's quarters only and the line at the register is a mile long. I mean we do everything but unload the trucks as it is.......and the savings aren't showing up on my register receipt and shopping has become a major ordeal in an already busy life. There's no such thing as a quick trip to the grocers anymore......it's become an event. Now to be so petty as to tax for bags?

What is the California plan---for your biggest plastic bag???
Nancy Pelosi that is!!!!!!

But the 25-cent-per-bag tax could be only just the beginning. AB 2058 also allows local governments to charge their own bag tax on top of that, meaning we could be paying even more in taxes in communities across the state.

This is a tax and not an incentive to recycle. Some states have a deposit fee on plastic bottles containing beverages. such as pop, bottled water, etc. When you return the bottle, you recover your deposit.

What is the 25 cent tax suppose to fund?

Crazybird...I never heard of charging for a shopping cart! Are you sure that's not in Ca??? I hope Lloyd Levine is reading this blog...we don't want to give him any more ideas.

Lloyd Levine is also known as 'Light Bulb Levine' after he sucessfully legislated the ban on incandescent light bulbs!

Parking meters are going up to $4.00!

I can't even keep up with the daily 'fees' that are being imposed. I've NEVER seen anything like it, and I've lived here my whole life. It's beyone shocking!!!

CA is a kleptocracy...the Mexican political cartels have taken over, lavished themselves and their friends, squandered the biggest revenue windfalls in history, and now there is nothing left...except to force the taxpayers to pay for their corruption. We need to stop feeding the criminals and hit them back with a taxpayer's revolt! This is a thousand times worse than the Boston tea party. Americans have NO representation in CA!

Americans have NO representation in CA!


Or in Nevada .......

Here in NV we do not have recylcing places for aluminum cans....I lived in Ca for 40 years....my kids used the recyling money for Christmas presents....There is no way I am just throwing aluminum cans away after all that brain conditioning from Ca.....so...I am the grandma that brings aluminum cans to my daughters when I visit her in Ca....let her recycle them..Probably illegal to do that....

Sorry guys, this is a great idea for my poor state. It takes 15 years for a plastic bag to break down in a landfill.

There are so many homes that do not recylce in this state. If you contribute to our trash problem you should pay a tax.

Grocery stores give you a choice, and you can provide your own bags in other stores. I'm sure you can even take your used and saved plastic bags to use whereever you go. The point is if you ask for plastic you are going to pay for it.

As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. Dont' forget it.
That's the good and the bad.

The same liberal naive idiots proposing these taxes are the same naive idiots who have let California be run down to the ground by illegals. They have cost this State dearly and yet their answer is always to punish Americans. Unbelievable. I will just ask the baggers in the grocery stores to carry each item out by hand. I will not pay a dime toward a darn bag!!!!

Originally Posted by alleycat

Sorry guys, this is a great idea for my poor state. It takes 15 years for a plastic bag to break down in a landfill.

There are so many homes that do not recylce in this state. If you contribute to our trash problem you should pay a tax.

Grocery stores give you a choice, and you can provide your own bags in other stores. I'm sure you can even take your used and saved plastic bags to use whereever you go. The point is if you ask for plastic you are going to pay for it.

As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. Dont' forget it.
That's the good and the bad.

I agree with you 100% about the plastic bags and the problems they contribute to the ecosystem; BUT I think it's unconscionable to charge 25 cents for them! That's just a revenue raiser! If they were REALLY concerned about plastic bags...they would ELIMINATE them COMPLETELY and use paper or boxes.

I bought some great bags from Trader Joe's and keep them in my trunk. It doesn't take long to get acclimated...and I kinda like using the Trader Joe bags when I go to Ralph's

I have been using my own bags for quite a while. I hate the stores plastic bags. I found the best bags are the ones you can buy at Costco. They are made out of canvas and so large that you can get at least 3 times as much as a paper bag in them.

I have never ran into a store here in California that charges for bags or use of the cart, but I have read articles in different areas of California that were talking about the problem of people stealing their carts. What with homeless taking carts or as more and people start walking and pushing the carts full of groceries home, I can see where the expense of rounding up or buying new carts could become an issue.