STUMP » Articles » Foolery for 2019: I Hate the NY State Legislature (and more) » 1 April 2019, 12:37

Where Stu & MP spout off about everything.

Foolery for 2019: I Hate the NY State Legislature (and more)  

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1 April 2019, 12:37

I’m not big into April Fools, and though I did a legit April Fools post 4 years ago, I generally skip this day for internet foolery.

But, there are so many natural fools out there, so why not just expose them all?

NY LEGISLATURE OUT OF USEFUL STUFF TO DO

Plastic Bags to Be Banned in New York; Second Statewide Ban, After California

This is so completely idiotic.

ALBANY — New York State lawmakers have agreed to impose a statewide ban on most types of single-use plastic bags from retail sales, changing a way of life for millions of New Yorkers as legislators seek to curb an unsightly and omnipresent source of litter.

The plan, proposed a year ago by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, would be the second statewide ban, after California, which banned bags in 2016. Hawaii also effectively has a ban in place, since all the state’s counties bar such single-use bags.

New York’s ban, which would begin next March, would forbid stores to provide customers with single-use plastic bags, which are nonbiodegradable and have been blamed for everything from causing gruesome wildlife deaths to thwarting recycling efforts.

WHY DO THEY HATE POOR PEOPLE OVER WILDLIFE?!

I’m really looking forward to what will happen to the bag people in NYC.

The ban, which is expected to be part of the state’s budget bills that are slated to be passed by Monday, would have a number of carveouts, including food takeout bags used by restaurants, bags used to wrap deli or meat counter products and bags for bulk items. Newspaper bags would also be exempted, as would garment bags and bags sold in bulk, such as trash or recycling bags.

Okay, now we can tell it’s just plain dumb. You know how I use most “single use” plastic bags? Other than toting the stuff I just bought, I USE THEM FOR TRASH. I use them in my van. I use them in waste paper baskets. When I lived by myself, I never bought trash bags. I just used the plastic shopping bags. Those bags got at least two uses out of them.

(I also crocheted the plastic bags into floormats for muddy boots, but I did that for only so long) I’ve used the bags to help waterproof old shoes when I was out in the snow. I’ve used the bags for picking up dog poop. I mean COME ON.

The agreement was also being criticized by business and trade groups, including the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, which represents grocery stores, a major target of such bans and fees.

Mike Durant, the group’s president, said the proposed law would “have a drastic impact on retailers,” and predicted confusion because of the opt-in provision. Mr. Durant also criticized the allocation of paper-bag fee revenue to the environmental and bag funds.

“The failure to give even a portion of the 5-cent fee back to the stores, makes this an untenable mandate for many of our members who operate within finite profit margins,” said Mr. Durant. He added, “We are disappointed that the Legislature did not consider this alternative and failed to hear the concerns of the business community.”

Small business groups also expressed concern. “Every mandated cost increase adds up,” said Greg Biryla, the New York director of National Federation of Independent Business. “Independent businesses are simply not able to absorb and adjust to new mandated costs the same as their big-box competitors.”

The legislature cannot begin to give a shit. The members of the legislature are primarily lawyers who make their $$ from their sweet connections. They’ve never had to run a retail shop.

Such a disincentive is also the goal of the state plan, said Mr. Kaminsky, whose hometown, Long Beach, N.Y., has such a program.

“I think we’ll look back in a few years,” he said. “And people will wonder why we didn’t do this sooner.”

Yes, we’ll wonder why we didn’t put the legislators in a barrel and shove them over Niagara Falls sooner. I’m looking forward to that.

Related:

By the way, back when I lived in NYC, I didn’t drive to the grocery store. I walked, and I had a cart I pushed around. I had a liner for the cart, and would often put my groceries in directly, and then roll it to my apartment. It was great when I lived on a ground floor apartment in Queens, but when I lived in a 3rd floor walkup in Manhattan, it was a bit of a drag.

The kind of people passing this law don’t do their own grocery shopping. And certainly not on foot.

OTHER STUPID STUFF

Yeah, let me just throw them into a bunch of nuggets for this day of fools.

APRIL FOOLS TWEETS

Okay, I will post a few of these.








And a bonus:



We’ll find out later!

And here, have a pensions tweet:


FOOLISH MUSIC

Have a bit of fun:

See you tomorrow!


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