The following piece was originally published by the Flash Report, the preeminent source for the most significant political news in California:

FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE PLASTIC BAGS

Patrick Gleason, Americans for Tax Reform

August 2, 2010

The California Senate Appropriations Committee is set to hold a hearing today on Assembly Bill 1998, legislation that would ban all plastic and paper shopping bags statewide. Never mind the 880 pound gorilla in the room that is the state’s $20 billion dollar overspending problem – lawmakers in Sacramento prefer to spend time ramming through an ill-advised bag prohibition. 

If passed, plastic and paper bags would be prohibited at all grocery stores, convenience stores, and other retailers statewide. AB 1998 effectively levies a new tax that Golden State residents must pay on every trip to their neighborhood grocer. Californians who are not able to or forget to bring their own bags to the store would be required to purchase either a reusable bag at checkout or pay no less than a nickel for a recycled paper bag.

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