The Soda Tax in CA?
For the past three summers, Mayor Gavin Newsom encouraged San Francisco citizens to go “Soda Free.” Earlier this year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for a penny-per-ounce tax on soda and other high-sugar beverages in New York City. The State Legislature of Hawaii just killed a soda tax bill this last week. Countless other mayors and state legislatures tried similar plans, but none have succeeded in passing any such law.
I hope that AB 669, a penny-per-ounce soda tax bill introduced in the California legislature this week by Assemblyman Bill Monning (D-Carmel) will pass and serve as an example for other states to follow. The tax would raise $1.7 billion for the State of California, and the money would go to obesity prevention programs for schools, parks, and communities.
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