It’s only 8 cents … today. I thought the 8 cents I am charged for a paper or plastic bag at retailers is a state government effort to curb climate change (once called global warming). One urban myth even suggests the money goes to help the logging industry. I gave no thought to how or why Senate Bill 5022, passed in 2021, fixed a price at 8 cents per bag, plastic or paper; I just pay it no questions asked.
The charge for plastic bags increases to 12 cents each in 2025 to help finance climate change concerns, I suppose.
Not so fast! All bag charges are considered retail, or “pass through,” sales and retained by the business. What? Does that mean I am charged sales tax on the bags the government mandated I purchase? Yes, and that means the state gets a penny kick back on every two bags you purchase. RCW 70A.530.020 and RCW 70A.530.060 lay those provisions out for any doubting Thomases.
Thinking that penny kick back is small potatoes is thinking small. A Jan. 22, 2024, Forbes article by Partick Gleason will dispel many misconceptions. New Jersey gained $42 million in sales tax in a single year from one company with 50 shops — think Safeway or Albertsons. While New Jersey gains revenue, the climate benefit is negligible or adverse. Oil is needed to produce plastic; increasing the thickness of reusable plastic bags triples the amount of plastic needed but does not decrease the number of bags produced. That is undeniably not a greenhouse gas reducing development.