Weighing a soda tax
The 2- cent- per- ounce lev y would generate $ 2 billion to fund obesity, diabetes and other programs.
State lawmakers want a “health impact fee” of 2 cents per ounce on sugary drinks.
SACRAMENTO — Alarmed by an obesity epidemic, two state lawmakers on Tuesday proposed a “health impact fee” of 2 cents per ounce on sugar- sweetened sodas and other drinks sold in California.
The proposal by Democratic Assemblymen Richard Bloom of Santa Monica and Jim Wood of Healdsburg would add 24 cents to 12ounce soft- drink cans, to be charged at the distributor level.
The more than $ 2 billion expected to be raised each year under the tax would be given to counties, cities, community- based organizations and licensed clinics to create and maintain obesity and diabetes prevention programs.
The money would also go toward providing safe drinking water and creating oral health programs.
“We hope to create a fund that would be used to improve health outcomes, particularly for children aff licted with obesity and diabetes,” Bloom said Tuesday. “Right now there’s very little funding available to address the epidemic of obesity.”
The World Health Organization recently proposed methods for addressing the growing medical problems targeted by the bill.
The measure, AB 2782, is backed by groups including the California Black Health Network, the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, the California Primary Care Assn. and the California Dental Assn.
Health experts also believe soda taxes reduce consumption, particularly by young people who are unable to afford the additional expense.
As with similar proposals in the past, Bloom’s bill is ex- pected to face strong opposition from Californians for Food and Beverage Choice, the political arm of the California Beverage Assn.
The group, which comprises beverage makers, distributors and retailers, most recently worked to kill a 1cent- per- ounce statewide soda tax proposal in the Legislature in 2014. A city soda tax won voter approval in Berkeley.
“We believe that people can decide for themselves what they can eat and drink,” the group says on its website. “Whether it’s a ‘ soda tax’ or portion size restriction, government regulations won’t make people healthy — only diet, exercise and nutrition education can do that.”