Democratic Councilman Bill Henry proposed a legislation this summer calling for a ban on retailers offering plastic bags and setting a 5-cent fee on other types of bags. The goal is to virtually eliminate plastic bag litter and to reduce other types of single-use waste. Similar city proposals have failed eight times since 2006. But instead of hashing out out a bag fee proposal, lawmakers put off a formal vote on the legislation at the committee work session. They opted for a third public discussion of the proposal before taking it to the full council.
“I don’t think there was a majority of votes today to go one way or another,” Democratic Councilman Eric Costello, chairman of the judiciary committee, said after the committee meeting. The lawmakers did tackle other aspects of the legislation, including removing a bag fee exemption for those on public assistance.
City leaders were reluctant to publicly voice support for any specific bag fee proposal, clouding details of a proposal that a supermajority on the City Council have said they support in general. Representatives for Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young and Council President Brandon Scott, both Democrats, said they support continuing discussions over how best to ban plastic bag use.
“Plastic bags need to be banned,” said Lester Davis, Young’s chief lobbyist. But he said it’s hard to predict what proposal might make it to the mayor’s desk. “I think the council’s deadlocked.”