Report: Bag Fee Ban Back Before State Senate on Tuesday (Updates)

Update: On Tuesday, the State Senate passed a bill outlawing New York City's bag fee bill.)

BROOKLYN, NY — An Albany bill outlawing New York City's five cent tax on plastic bags will be considered by members of the State Senate on Tuesday, according to a report in the New York Daily News and a spokesman for Sen. Simcha Felder.

Last year, Felder, whose district includes Sunset Park, Borough Park, Flatbush and Ditmas Park, introduced legislation outlawing a bag fee bill passed by the New York City Council in May.

The city bill, pushed most aggressively by Park Slope Councilman Brad Lander, applied a five cent fee to all non-renewable paper and plastic bags in the city. The city also committed to participate in large-scale reusable bag giveaways targeted toward low-income residents.

Kathyrn Garcia, who leads the city's Department of Sanitation, told a Council committee in 2014 that 91,000 tons of single-use paper and plastic bags head to city landfills each year, while an estimated 9.37 billion single-use plastic bags are used annually in the city.

The new law was set to go into full effect this March, but its implementation was delayed until August by the Council following objections in Albany — specifically, the threat of Felder's Senate bill (the lead sponsor of associated legislation in the Assembly is Staten Island's Michael Cusick).

Felder's bill outlaws "any charge, tax or any other fee that has been assessed or directed to be imposed upon customers by a city with a population of one million or more for the provision of any carry out merchandise bag."

The legislation has yet to be passed by either the State Senate or Assembly. According to legislative records, as of Tuesday, it was still in committee in both bodies, and had yet to be scheduled for a floor vote.

But the News reported that at a Sunday press conference, Felder said it would be up for a vote on Tuesday.

A spokesman for Felder could not confirm that Monday. Instead, he passed along a press release restating the Senator's objections to the bill.

“Many families have a hard time just getting by, paying for groceries, rent and heat, and now the Mayor wants to shake them down every time they shop just for the privilege of using a plastic bag,” the release quoted Felder as saying. "Mayor de Blasio, please do not nickel and dime New Yorkers with another tax."

On Monday, Lander expressed bemused exasperation with Felder's objections, and dismissed any suggestion that a legislative compromise is needed as "a canard."

The bag fee bill was already changed before passage, Lander pointed out — for example, its five cent tax was a reduction from the 10 cent tax included in its original form.

"I don't believe they have any good ideas. I believe they just don't care," Lander said, referring to the bill's Albany opponents. "They just want us not to do it. They have no plan for plastic bag waste."

Lander also said the incoming Trump administration has already demonstrated a hostility toward pro-environment legislation, hoping that such a reality would influence state legislators.

"It's just not that hard to buy a reusable bag," he said.

[Editor's note: this story has been updated.]

Top photo by Kate Ter Harr on Flickr