We, the undersigned, strongly oppose Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi’s ordinance which will charge the patrons of small neighborhood and ethnic businesses up to a quarter for every plastic bag provided to customers. If passed, the new fee will be applied to all San Francisco businesses including neighborhood merchants, bakeries and restaurants on July 1, 2012. While we support measures to benefit our environment, this is not an appropriate way to support environmental change. The proposed ordinance not only extends the ban on single use plastic bags to small business owners, but then proceeds to charge their customers for the bag. Extending the ban on single use bags to small merchants and charging customers a quarter for each bag will place an unnecessary financial burden on residents especially the elderly, low-income and immigrants. With so many of our small businesses and residents already struggling with the tough economy, this new fee will add greater economic burden to people and businesses and will further drive families and businesses out of the City.

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