How the DC Council Bribed Retailers to Pass a Tax

Prior to the Washington DC Bag tax and in other areas where taxes are under discussion retailers have opposed taxation. So why was the DC council able to pass a tax on consumer groceries without opposition from retailers?
Simply put they paid them off. Here’s how:

• Plastic shopping bags cost stores about $0.01 a piece.
• Wells wrote in to the tax a $0.01-02/bag refund to each store (0.02 if the store provides incentives for reusable bags)
• So the more you take the more they make (or at least the store breaks even)

So the city gets the tax and the store gets the refund, so everyone wins?

Not really. You the shopper still pays $0.05 for every bags of groceries you buy.