The Democrat soda tax returns

Re-Distributing Your Wealth

"Right after liberal Democrats, the most dangerous 

politicians are country club Republicans."

Thomas Sowell

(Sacramento Business Journal)  -  Distributors of soda and other sugary drinks would be required to pay two pennies per ounce for diabetes programs under legislation by a Santa Monica Democrat.

As have previous incarnations of the bill, it pits health organizations against business groups. These include the California Chamber of Commerce, which has labeled the bill a job killer, and the California Restaurant Association, which calls it government overreach.

The bill’s author, Democrat Assemblyman Richard Bloom, highlights studies that show taxes on sweetened beverages lower consumption. 

In January 2014, the Mexican government slapped a tax on sodas. The action led to a 10 percent reduction of purchases, according a study from Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

A one-cent per ounce tax proposed in 2013 was estimated to bring in $1.8 billion to the state, but died in committee. A similar bill met the same fate in 2010. And legislation last year that would have required a warning label on soda akin to cigarettes died last year in committee.

Assembly Bill 1357 will be heard May 12 in an Assembly health committee.

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