The Illinois Student Senate voted against a resolution supporting a plastic bag fee in the city of Champaign at its regular meeting Wednesday.

A fee like this would be the first of its kind in the Midwest, said Angela Adams, recycling coordinator for the city of Champaign.

Adams, who spoke to the student senate at the meeting, said that it’s mostly coastal cities that have programs like this in place. She said Chicago and Evanston are considering implementing fees similar to this one.

Adams said this fee could generate $200,000 annually. She said the purpose of the fee is not to gain revenue for the city but to encourage people to be environmentally friendly.

“The amount of litter in our community is ridiculous,” she said.

“Plastic bags … cause an unsightly scene. Plastic bags cause litter, use petroleum and natural gas. They can kill wildlife.”

Adams said that of the 900 people who took a survey about implementing the fee, 70 percent supported it. Some senators expressed hesitation at accepting the survey results as what the student body would want. Self-selected surveys may not be very accurate, said Jackson Garvey, vice president-internal.

Nick Larson, student senator and junior in LAS, voiced concern that Champaign residents who use a Link Card, which allows them to get governmental assistance for food, may be disproportionately harmed by this fee. Damani Bolden, student senator and sophomore in ACES, said this fee created “class warfare.”

“It’s a burden to working class people and impoverished people,” he said.

Adams said the funds gained from the fee would go toward buying reusable bags for households that cannot afford it. She said she would like to send one reusable bag to each household in Champaign. Additionally, she said that some communities held bag drives, where people could bring in their reusable bags to give to a family that cannot afford them.