The Connecticut legislature’s Environment Committee has advanced a bill that would impose a 5 cent fee on single use plastic bags.
Supporters of the bill say it’s a good step forward environmentally.
Branford Senator Ted Kennedy, Jr., co-chair of the committee, says money generated from the fee would go towards state parks, which are in need of those funds.
“Part of the reason why is that we’re one of the very few states that relies exclusively on general fund revenue. That makes our state parks very susceptible to funding cuts when we go through a budget crisis.”
East Haddam Representative Melissa Ziobron voted against the proposal. She calls it an arbitrary tax on bags.
The proposal passed the committee on a 19 to 10 vote.
Suffolk County passed a 5 cent fee on plastic and paper bags that will go into effect next January. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently killed a law that would have imposed a similar fee in New York City.
