![A letter header with the logos of Clean Water Action, Maryland Hunger Solutions, Maryland Center on Economic Policy, Centro de Apoyo Familiar, National Aquarium, Maryland Ornithological Society, Center for Nature-Informed Therapy, and Association for Nature-Based Education](/sites/default/files/2025-01/MoCo%20bags%20letter%20header.png)
Two weeks ago, the Montgomery County Council held a public hearing on a new and improved Bring Your Own Bag Bill to update the County's environmental policies on carryout bags, and a vote is coming up soon. Take action: email your County Council members today!
Since 2012, Montgomery County has required retailers to charge 5 cents for a plastic or paper bag. But that still enables plastics, which are made from fossil fuel sources, to escape as long-lasting pollution into our environment. The new Bring Your Own Bag bill will ban plastic carryout bags entirely, and increase the charge on paper bags to 10 cents to fund County environmental programs.
As drafted, the bill includes an important provision exempting SNAP and WIC transactions from the fee on paper bags, and we want to keep it that way. Across Maryland, we’ve been working with partners like Maryland Hunger Solutions to uplift this as an important environmental justice measure. The SNAP/WIC exemption makes certain that the paper bag fees do not disproportionately burden low-income families. Without this exemption, families using SNAP and WIC would face increased grocery costs, worsening food insecurity.
At the public hearing, the Maryland Retailers Association claimed that the SNAP/WIC fee exemption would be difficult to implement, with inaccurate information about how the exemption and SNAP/WIC in general work. We know that the SNAP/WIC fee exemption works well in many other states and counties across the country without issue - it’s the right solution for Montgomery County.
Email your County Council members today - and check out the testimony below, signed by 7 environmental, economic, and hunger focused organizations!