CO Senate considering bill to charge $.25 for using plastic bags

[Ronin13]

So our benevolent "leaders" at the capitol are pushing to ask us to pay a little more to use those awful plastic bags! Although they had Senate President Kevin Grantham on KHOW this morning say that it wouldn't make it through the (R) controlled senate. So maybe, maybe not?
Colorado Politics reports on the proposal- which thankfully would go to the voters (because it's a tax, not a "fee"), which might not give me much hope, considering most CO voters these days seem like they are "environmentally friendly."

A 25-cent Colorado plastic bag tax proposed by Rep. Paul Rosenthal and Sen. Lois Court

The bill, if passed, would refer a measure onto the ballot to ask Colorado voters to approve a tax on plastic bags from the supermarket. The tax would be a quarter, the same amount whether the customer at the checkout counter uses one bag or several. The proceeds would go to grants and loans to local governments and building contractors to build or retain affordable housing in Colorado.
The text of House Bill 1054 can be read by clicking here.
Compared to runaway housing prices, the bag tax comparably is a small price to pay, The tax, they project, could raise $50 million a year.
“No matter where I go or who I talk to, the sky-high cost of housing is the number one concern that I hear,” Rosenthal said in a statement.
Court said, “Even with the construction of a large number of new condos, the leases are expensive and not bringing down the cost of housing in the city,” she said. “We see many areas of the state dealing with this issue—it’s not just the Denver metro area.”
As a bonus, the tax would encourage the use of reusable or paper bags and raise awareness of plastic bag waste in Colorado.
“Plastic bags pollute and litter our environment, plus they’re an eyesore and they don’t biodegrade,” Rosenthal said. “We have to be far more aggressive when it comes to curbing our daily waste, which only adds to the mountainous heaps of garbage that currently litter our state.”
Several Colorado cities already tax plastic bags, “proof that the system works in the state,” according to Rosenthal.
Boulder passed a 10-cent fee on all disposable paper and plastic bags and reduced in 2013, and the next year bag use dropped 69 percent in the city, the Boulder Daily Camera reported.
The bill carves out exemptions for restaurants and those eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

LINK

MODS: If this belongs in the legislation and politics section I apologize- I figured it was appropriate in GD due to not being firearm related.