The County Council will hold a public hearing on Bill 24-24, which proposes banning plastic carryout bags, taxing paper bags, and modifying related tax regulations, to January 14, 2025, at 1:30 p.m., with the sign-up deadline on January 13 at 2 p.m.
In October, Montgomery County Council Vice President Kate Stewart introduced the “Bring Your Own Bag” bill that would ban businesses from distributing single-use plastic bags and increase the fee on paper bags from five to 10 cents, with five cents allocated to the retailers and five cents allocated to the Water Quality Protection Charge fund.
Per Montgomery County: “The County Council has updated the date of the following public hearing to receive testimony on an item introduced to the Council as follows:
Jan. 14, 2025 at 1:30 p.m.
Deadline to sign up to speak is Jan. 13 at 2 p.m.
NEW DATE: Bill 24-24, Taxation – Paper Carryout Bags and Prohibition on Plastic Carryout Bags (“Bring Your Own Bag”), would prohibit plastic carryout bags provided by a retail establishment with certain exceptions, require a tax on paper carryout bags at the point of sale with certain exceptions, exempt recipients of food assistance programs from the carryout bag tax, remove a certain threshold for when taxes must be remitted to the County, modify the reporting requirements for remittance of the carryout bag tax, clarify that certain conduct by a retailer is prohibited, and generally amend County law related to the excise tax on carryout bags.”