WASHINGTON – Virginia is set to consider whether to charge you a bag tax.

The proposed 5-cent tax would help fund efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

If the legislature passes the measure, businesses would be keep a penny of the tax or 2 cents if they have in place a program to credit shoppers who bring their own bags, The Examiner reports.

In the past, Virginia considered a 20-cent bag tax but the idea never went anywhere.

Montgomery County, Md. started a similar 5-cent tax this year, and D.C. also has one.

D.C.’s bag tax revenue has gone down the past two years.

Ward 6 D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells tells The Examiner the program has decreased the number of plastic bags in the Anacostia River by 60 percent.

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