Retailers in the county will continue to provide shoppers with tax-free plastic bags, lawmakers decided Saturday, after a bill that would levy the new fees failed to make it out of committee.
Many Prince George’s County officials and state delegates were confident they would be able to enact the revenue-generating legislation, about a year after a similar statewide bag tax failed to pass in its third attempt through the state’s General Assembly. Many environmental activists from across the state – including this university’s MaryPIRG chapter and Student Government Association – pushed for the 5-cent fee, as a similar tax in Washington has curbed plastic bag usage by millions.
However, the state’s House Environmental Matters Committee killed the bill – which would enable the county to place a tax on the plastic bags retailers give to customers – citing concerns it would overly burden low-income residents. It fell one vote short of reaching the House floor.
“I was disappointed,” said committee member Del. Doyle Niemann (D-Prince George’s), who voted in favor of the bill. “I thought we should have the right to do it. It works, it changes the way people behave in positive ways and it does it with, I think, minimal costs.”
Although other regions have enacted the fee – such as Montgomery County in January – opponents of the bill felt the measure would place a burden on the county’s poor. Del. Cheryl Glenn (D-Baltimore City), who voted against the measure, said reusable bags are not accessible enough to low-income shoppers to soften the blow of the fees.
“A lot of my colleagues don’t understand what it’s like for people if you are disadvantaged or you’re living in poverty,” she said. “I’ve lived that life, and it’s really devastating.”
Del. Melony Griffith (D-Prince George’s), also opposed the legislation, stating some residents would balk at fronting the added cost in addition to other possible taxes – such as a gasoline tax and online sales tax – coming out of this legislative session.
“I believe that charging citizens more for an everyday cost is regressive,” she said. “I just thought the proposal was ill-timed in terms of its physical impact on the senior citizens and low-income citizens in our county.”
Michelle Kim, the SGA’s sustainability director, said that the SGA will try to expand their outreach next year to include more people in the surrounding communities.
“It’s kind of a necessary step in terms of waste reduction at this point,” she said. “If it’s not going to happen, we’re just going keep having the same pollution problems.”
However, the issue is likely to come up in next year’s legislative session, Niemann said.
“We’ll be back next year with more of a campaign to convince people that it’s not a tax, this is way of changing behavior,” he said.
bach@umdbk.com
