The D.C. Council will hold a hearing tomorrow on a bill proposed by Councilman Tommy Wells (Ward 6) that would exact a 5-cent tax on every distributed paper or plastic bag in the city. This is the sort of tax that a city would only consider if it was really, really broke, and indeed it is. The opposition to the tax is being led by an unlikely pairing of interests: Big Business, and local poor community groups. Because you do NOT mess with Plastic, got it?
On the business lobbying side, the American Chemistry Council's less evil-sounding subsidiary, Progressive Bag Affiliates, is going around telling everyone that, uh, the Poors told them they hated this bill completely. Unfortunately, the Poors are not one monolithic group:
But not all the organizations feel they are being fairly represented by the plastics group. The press release lists charitable and religious groups including the Capital Area Food Bank as having “expressed their opposition to the proposed tax.” However management of the food bank, which distributes more than 200 million pounds of food annually, say they are not taking a position on the legislation.
But the tax would have a negative effect on poorer neighborhoods, at least in the short term, especially in Ward 8. Councilman Wells, however, says they "would use money from the fees to purchase and distribute reusable bags for citizens and a cleanup campaign for the Anacostia River, one the country’s most polluted waterways."
Wells is expected to open the hearing tomorrow by shouting "April Fool's!" and explaining that no, he's obviously not going to tax BAGS, you fools.
Jim Newell writes plastic for Wonkette and IvyGate.
