California Legislature Kills Bag Tax Bills

From Plasticsnews.com:

The early demise of two bills that would have placed a 25-cent tax on single-use plastic and paper carryout bags in California underscores the state budgetary pressures that will likely influence any additional efforts to tax or ban plastic bags in California.

The two bills, both carried over from the 2009 legislative session, were killed Jan. 21 when they were held in the state Assembly Appropriations Committee.

“I think it sends a message that any new spending will be looked at with a critical eye,” said Tim Shestek, director of state, government and grassroot affairs in California for the American Chemistry Council. “They were dispatched fairly quickly.”

State estimates were that the initial startup costs to impose the 25-cent fee would have been in the neighborhood of $300,000 with annual enforcement costs of $1 million.

More on the D.C. bag tax here.