Get free daily email updates

Syndicate this site - RSS

Recent Posts

Blogger Menu

Click here to blog

FlashReport Weblog on California Politics

- Or -
Search blog archive

Katy Grimes

Sacramento Shoppers Furious Over Plastic Bag Ban and Tax

Sacramento grocery shoppers are livid. Even the liberals.

While shopping Jan. 3 at two Sacramento stores, I witnessed mounting shopper anger as they were told they’d be charged .10 cents per grocery bag. One woman screamed back at the checker, “This is ridiculous!” as she tossed all of her items back into the cart on her way out of the store. She then angrily threw the same loose, un-bagged items into her trunk and drove off… with an Obama 2012 bumper sticker.

At another large retailer, most shoppers were also caught off guard, and angrily acquiesced to the bag charges. And they weren’t silent about their anger. “Ten cents for this piece of &*#t?” one woman asked another shopper, holding up a new bag. (No, I wasn’t at WalMart)

Wait until these shoppers discover that California’s coddled welfare recipients won’t be charged for… Read More

Katy Grimes

CA Plastic Bag Ban Halted As Initiative to Repeal Qualifies for 2016 Ballot

After eight years of failed legislative attempts to ban plastic grocery bags, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill in September to ban and tax plastic and paper grocery bags. The new statewide plastic bag ban is scheduled to go into effect July 15, 2015… but not so fast…

Immediately after the bill signing, the American Progressive Bag Allianceannouncedit would gather signatures for a November 2016 ballot initiative to repeal the bill to block implementation of the statewide ban.They got their wish – thebag initiative just qualified for the 2016… Read More

Katy Grimes

Plastic Bag Ban Opponents and Supporters Bringing the Fight To You

Staring at a gigantic German Shepherd poop on my bedroom rug last weekend, I reached for one of those single-use grocery bags outlawed by California, for the clean up.

Thankfully, I have a small stash of extra “single-use” plastic bags… but not for long.

After eight years of failed legislative attempts to ban plastic grocery bags, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill in September to ban and tax plastic and paper grocery bags,despite the fact that all types of plastic shopping bags can be reused and recycled into new bags. The new statewide plastic bag ban is scheduled to go into effect July 15, 2015.

Immediately after the bill signing, the American Progressive Bag… Read More

Katy Grimes

Plastic Bag Alliance Not Clowning Around on Job Loss, Cost and ‘Hypocrisy’ of SB 270

SACRAMENTO — Saddling consumers into paying extra for plastic bags at the grocery store is becoming an wildly unpopular idea. Facing formidable opposition because of the thousands of jobs which will be lost, Senate Bill 270 by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacioma, isnot just about the extra cost to shoppers anymore.

SB 270 would ban the 100 percent recyclable, multi-use plastic retail bags while allowing grocers to charge and keep fees for paper, and new thicker plastic bags. Padilla and supporters call the current plastic grocery bags “single use.”

Plastic bag representatives,… Read More

Katy Grimes

Paper, plastic or 10 cent bag tax?

Remember when plastic bags were foisted on the shopping public because cutting trees down for paper was bad? Introduced in the 1950’s, popular in the U.S. by the 1980’s, plastic bags were sold to the public as 100 percent reusable and recyclable. All types of plastic shopping bag can be recycled into new bags where effective collection schemes exist; some are even biodegradable.

Despite the fact that trees are a renewable resource, many stores and retail outlets accepted the plastic bags. “Paper or plastic?” became one of the most recognizable questions in America.

Flash forward to 2007, when the plastic bag began to smell like the… Read More