Mayors, city council members and other local officials from around New York state are urging lawmakers not to overrule New York City’s fee on plastic bags.
In a letter Wednesday, more than 50 local leaders wrote to top lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to oppose legislation that would block the fee.
The officials argue that cities around the state, nation and world are using bag fees to reduce litter and say the state shouldn’t interfere with a local decision.
Starting next month retail stores in New York City will impose a fee of 5 cents or more on single-use plastic shopping bags. Retailers will keep the revenue from the fee.
Legislation to block New York City’s bag fee passed the Senate last week and is now pending in the Assembly.
(AP)
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5 Responses
I would like to see a breakdown by political party of the signatories of this petition. I suspect these are all Democratic Party hacks whose approach to taxation is unrelated to the public benefit.
The Recycle nuts don’t know how to back down when it becomes clear that they are weighing heavily on the budgets of already cash-strapped New Yorkers. Don’t they realize that the junky bags that store keepers use today are too flimsy to really be recycled. Like Obamacare, no one thinks about how it will affect people.
Why don’t they rather take off the five cent bottle deposit that way garbage’s don’t get ripped open by all the people not paying any taxes
As State Senator Felder argued: enforce the current law of having retailers set up recycling containers. That has never been done.
Just because other states and cities have stupid laws that doesn’t mean that we have to have them.