Old Bag

Despite the opposition's shrill and not very convincing arguments against DC's plastic bag tax, the early data suggests that the tax has been a resounding success...for some perhaps too successful.

From the WaPo...

In its first assessment of how the new law is working, the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue estimated that food and grocery establishments gave out about 3 million bags in January. Before the bag tax took effect Jan. 1, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer had said that about 22.5 million bags were being issued each month in 2009.

District officials had estimated that the tax would generate $10 million over the next four years for environmental initiatives. But in January, the tax generated only $149,432, suggesting that it might fall short of revenue projections.