Well. I needed Kleenex Pocket Pack Kleenexes badly. So, I ordered them from Amazon! See below . . .

[progree]

60. Minnesota is adding a 50 cent retail delivery fee, GRRRRRR

Last edited Mon Jul 1, 2024, 12:40 AM - Edit history (1)

a controversial $0.50 retail delivery fee passed in 2023 will hit Minnesotans’ wallets on Monday.

The new charge will be added to most deliveries totaling more than $100.

Lawmakers who supported the legislation expect the fee to raise roughly $60 million to fix roads and other transportation infrastructure.

Food — including from restaurants — medical supplies and baby products are exempt from the new delivery fee.

No more on this subject at https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/retail-delivery-fee-non-compete-ban-deep-fake-penalties-among-state-laws-going-into-effect-monday/

I don't really know what this accomplishes -- deliverers pay gasoline and vehicle taxes [1], so why they (and we) must pay yet more (obviously a charge that is mostly passed on to the consumer), I don't understand. I guess it's a less out-front way to get some extra tax revenues than say raising the gas tax a couple pennies which would drive a lot of people apoplectic.

Both chambers of the state legislature and the governor are all Democratic.

I'm glad to see the exemptions.

The $100 threshhold is perplexing -- I very consciously bundle my Amazon orders to as few deliveries as possible for greenhouse gas and other pollution emissions reasons, meaning I make a few high-dollar orders rather than several small-dollar orders for example. That makes me an a-wipe I guess that should be punished.

I guess they think anyone who orders more than $100 in one order is Richie Rich or something. And that anyone who has things delivered instead of driving out and getting it and driving back home is idle rich and should pay a character-building "get off your lazy butt and go to the store" luxury tax. Instead of thinking it might be someone who might just be sick, disabled, or car-less. Sigh.

[1] Unless they deliver by bike or foot, unheard of where I live, but in core Minneapolis and St. Paul downtowns, I suppose that happens frequently, especially restaurant food orders.