Establishes a prohibition on the imposition of any tax, fee or local charge on carry out merchandise bags

More specifically, subdivision one of this bill would provide a definition of carry out merchandise bag and retail store, while subdivision two would establish a prohibition on any city, including a city of one million or more, from imposing any tax, fee or local charge on any carry out merchandise bag, and subdivision three would establish a corollary prohibition on any city, including a city of one million or more, from collecting any tax, fee or local charge on any carry out merchandise bag.

Justification

Carry out merchandise bags are any plastic, paper or other bag or carrying container, provided by a retail store, to a customer of that store, for the purpose of carrying and/or transporting merchandise lawfully obtained at such store. They further include any plastic carryout bag as defined by subdivision four of section 27-2701 of the environmental conservation law. In brief, they are most often disposable bags provided to customers by a grocery or other retail store for the purposes of carrying or transporting their food items or other merchandise from the store to the customer's home.

For decades, grocery stores and retailers have provided customers with disposable carry out bags to transport their merchandise. For many years, such disposable bags were predominantly made of paper, but in an effort to accommodate advocates in the environmental movement and promote environmental protection, so as to save trees and switch to a more eco-friendly recyclable material, most grocery stores and retail establishments have switched to plastic bags and containers. These disposable bags are easily recyclable, safe, convenient and healthy, and have become the standard in the retail marketplace.

Despite the fact that there are many recycling programs for carryout plastic bags, both in practice and in law, there has now developed a movement in the environmental community to abandon its previous advocacy for disposable plastic bags and advance the promotion of permanent, customer owned shopping bags. As consumers clearly prefer the disposable bags presently provided by grocery stores and other retail establishments, those who favor the permanent, customer owned shopping bags, now seek to force consumers to modify their behavior, by means of the imposition of a tax or fee on every disposable carry out merchandise bag provided by a retailer.

Although well intentioned, this bag tax or fee idea, is actually harmful to consumers, families, retailers and public health. It is not only impracticable to believe that every consumer can provide their own carry out bag or container, but imposing a tax or fee on every bag provided by the retailer, would significantly increase the cost of groceries and every retail item sold in any city that imposes such a tax or fee. Families who are already facing a high cost of living, would be seriously and negatively impacted by this misguided and unnecessary tax or fee.

Worse still, if customers do begin to provide their own carry out bags, as those who support this tax or fee intend, such reusable bags will undoubtedly present a serious public health issue. For such reusable bags often present the risk of bringing into the store a contaminate of food based disease, bacteria or other illness, which can cause serious cross contamination or infection for both the customer, or other customers, or store employees. Issues such as salmonella, or other bacteria or viruses, which escape from food previously carried in the reusable bag, or which are being spread from the exposure to customer's own home environment, can be easily spread from exposure to the reusable bag.

To bring such source of contaminates or disease back into the store is both ill advised and dangerous. Accordingly, unless the reusable bag has been completely cleaned and disinfected, which is a practice few consumers with such reusable bags follow, this practice is one that could well cause serious harm and disease to all the people exposed to the bag. There is a reason why health care facilities, restaurants, hotels and other entities that provide food and exposure to the public use disposable and sterilized items. There is a reason why grocery and retail stores have been using disposable bags for generations. To do otherwise is simply irresponsible, and non disposable bags illustrate this avoidable and ill advised risk. As a result, it can be seen that this misguided tax or fee desperately needs to be prohibited from being imposed by any city.

Legislative history

This is a new bill.

Budget implications

None noted.

Effective date

This act would take effect immediately.