Framingham's 10-Cent Bag Fee To Be Re-Debated By Councilors

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The 10-cent shopping bag fee that went into effect in Framingham on July 5 will stay in place for now, but a City Council subcommittee will soon begin debating the ordinance again after pushback from city residents.

At-Large Councilor Janet Leombruno had asked the Council to consider repealing the 10-cent fee, which is meant to encourage shoppers to bring reusable bags. At Tuesday's meeting, Leombruno said her proposal wasn't necessarily a repeal — it was "worded unfortunately" on the agenda — but a request to reopen a discussion about possible changes to the fee. That could mean almost anything: doubling the fee, carving out exceptions — or perhaps nothing at all.

The idea of repealing the fee was opposed by several Councilors and some members of the public who attended Tuesday's meeting.

"My concern is that it's going to dramatically reduce the effectiveness of the ordinance," District 2 Councilor Cesar Stewart-Morales said. "That is the incentive that was created carefully through a process."

District 7 Councilor Margareth Basilio Shepard said the fee is necessary to change behavior.

"And change doesn't come easy," she said. "We need a pain on the pocket, and then people will think twice."

Leombruno said she was responding to business owners and residents who were upset about the fee. The rollout leading up to July 5, she said, was not handled well.

"Customers are getting upset and yelling at the employees," she said. "They're blaming it on the City Council, 'they're idiots, the mayor's an idiot.'"

Former councilor Judith Grove — a proponent of the plastic bag ban and fee — said she surveyed local businesses about the fee. Stop & Shop told her they're selling more reusable bags than ever, she said; stores like Walgreens and CVS didn't report any problems; and some stores, like Trader Joe's and Barnes and Noble, already encourage shoppers to bring their own bags.

The fee was initially approved by the Council in 2019, but wasn't set to go into effect until January. It was pushed to July 5 due to the ongoing pandemic. The fee was an add-on to the city's plastic bag ban, which went into effect in 2018. A committee reviewed the policy in 2019 and found that the 10-cent fee would strengthen the ban by incentivizing shoppers to use reusable bags.

The ordinance says that stores that provide shopping bags must charge at least 10 cents for them. The stores get to keep the fees they collect.

Plastic bags are seen as a massive environmental problem because they take so long to break down in the environment. Paper bags are biodegradable, but the manufacturing process is carbon-intensive.

Ultimately, the Council voted to reopen the 10-cent fee debate in the Council's Ordinance & Rules Committee, which is chaired by District 8 Councilor John Stefanini. He said it could take until October to get through any kind of substantive policy debate. The vote nearly divided the Council with Stewart-Morales, Shepard, Vice Chair Adam Steiner, District 5 Councilor Robert Case and District 9 Councilor Tracey Bryant voting against reopening the issue.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misquoted former councilor Judith Grove about what types of bags Stop & Shop was selling more of.