It doesn’t look good for the City Council’s “tax” on plastic bags; the only real question is how humiliated the council’s greens will be.
The state Senate last week passed a bill to block any such fees statewide, and the Assembly stood poised to do the same. And for good reason, as the measure hits the poor the hardest even as it fails to deliver more than a symbolic environmental benefit.
The law’s backers in the city figured they were OK once Mayor de Blasio embraced their measure — but they never got The Bronx on board, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie happens to be a Bronx guy.
But he’s also apparently willing to let the city pols save face. Once City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito delayed implementing the 5-cent fee until it’s tailored to the Assembly’s liking, Heastie took the override bill off his chamber’s agenda.
Heastie assured his members that if they don’t like what the City Council comes up with, then they can vote on Assemblyman Michael Cusick’s legislation killing the fee in January. Yet it’s hard to see anything short of full repeal doing the trick.
Memo to the council: Don’t expect Mayor de Blasio’s support for anything to count up in Albany.