NYC Residents May Have to Pony Up for Shopping Bags

New Yorkers may have to start paying for their shopping bags soon. Councilmember Margaret Chin proposed legislation that would put a 10-cent fee on all paper and plastic bags to make the city more environmentally conscious.

 

Chin says the fee is not a tax. She says all revenue would go back to the retailers. But she says it will still end up saving tax payers money.

 

"It costs New York City $10 million a year to clean up the litter and waste from these bags," she said. "So that's $10 million that could be put to good use for our schools, our senior centers; so we will be saving a lot of tax payer dollars." 

 

Chin says people who use food stamps would be exempt from the fee. She says the New York City council will hold a hearing in about a month to deliberate the legislation.