Bill would tax disposable shopping bags

Frances Correa

Multimedia Editor

Paper or plastic? A typical question consumers expect to hear at the checkout line. But under a proposed state tax, disposable plastic and paper bags provided by retailers would come at a price.

Under House Bill 1115, sponsored by Delegate Adam Ebbin, D-Arlington, retailers would be required to charge shoppers 5 cents for each non-reusable bag issued to customers. The money would go into the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund. Shoppers could avoid the tax by bringing their own reusable bags.

“I’m not surprised,” said Derek Knight, a junior accounting major and Kroger cashier. “The country is trying to become more green.”

Former Kroger employee and a junior creative advertising major Stephanie Polickoski said when Kroger started to promote reusable bags, more consumers started to use them. Shoppers could save 3 cents for paper bags and 5 cents for cloth bags, she said.

“I know VCU is trying to promote using reusable cups; it looks like they’re starting to promote reusable things more,” Polickoski said. “It’d be nice if they promoted reusable bags in the commons. I’m sure students would take advantage.”

The Department of Environmental Conservation is working with University Housing to provide reusable bags for students according to the department’s Web site.

Jeri Dilts, a senior bioinformatics major, said she thinks the environment would benefit if more people used reusable bags but it should be the retailer’s choice whether they charge their customers.

“It could be a priority for the company to make sure that they suit their customers’ needs,” Dilts said. “If their customers’ needs is wanting a bag without paying for it, then they should do that.”

Ashley Andreano, a sophomore and pre-radiation science major, said she thinks the potential tax would be unfair to consumers.

“I’m all about keeping my money,” Andreano said. “If I earn it, I earn it and I get to keep it. The Earth was meant to be used.”

Ebbin and Delegate Joseph Morrissey, D-Highland Springs, held a press conference Thursday to muster support for the bill, which is called the Virginia Waterways Clean Up and Consumer Choice Act.

Ebbin said consumers cannot deny using disposable bags is harmful to the environment.

Ebbin said the average Virginian uses about 300 non-reusable bags per year—a total of more than two billion bags annually. Only 1-2 percent of those bags are recycled, Ebbin said.

His bill would let retailers keep 1 cent of the 5-cent fee—and 2 cents if the store has a customer bag credit program.

The tax would not apply to

• durable plastic bags, with handles, that are specifically designed for reuse.
• bags used for meat, fish, poultry, ice cream, leftover restaurant food, newspapers, dry cleaning and prescription drugs.

Ebbin said that in the first year, the fee would raise about $48 million for the Water Quality Improvement Fund.

Under his bill, a retailer who fails to collect the fee could be fined up to $1,000.

A subcommittee of the House Finance Committee HB 1115 is scheduled to consider HB 1115 on Tuesday.

A different panel has killed a related bill, HB 521, sponsored by Morrissey. His measure would have imposed an outright ban on the use of plastic carryout bags by retailers—unless the bags were designed for reuse.

A subcommittee of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources voted Wednesday to table Morrissey’s bill.

Limiting or banning plastic bags would be an important step toward environmental responsibility, Morrissey said.

Some U.S. states, from Connecticut to Hawaii, have put a tax on flimsy plastic bags issued at the checkout line. On Jan. 1, Washington, D.C. started levying a 5-cent tax on each bag. San Francisco has banned plastic bags entirely.

Ireland has raised millions of euros in tax revenue since it put a tax on plastic bags in 2002. Morrissey said China saved 37 million barrels of oil by banning plastic bags in 2008.

“I’m slightly disappointed that Virginia is not leading the way,” Morrissey said.

To track the bill, visit The Legislative Information Service at http://leg1.state.va.us/ or Richmond Sunlight at richmondsunlight.com.