California legislators nix tax on sugared drinks

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers halted the possibility Tuesday of a 2-cent-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages sold in the state to counteract what supporters say is the marketing of sugary drinks to children.

The legislation, Assembly Bill 1357, failed to pass the Assembly Health Committee on a 10-6 vote. It would have raised about $3 billion a year to pay for state health programs focusing on the prevention and treatment of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and dental disease.

"This is a crisis in California, and we cannot afford to just step back and watch this continue," said Rebecca De La Rosa, a spokeswoman for Latino Coalition for A Healthy California.

The defeat follows similar attempts elsewhere that have faced lobbying from the American Beverage Association:

• In Congress, H.R. 1687 would impose a tax of 1 cent per 4.2 grams of caloric sweetener in a beverage. It was introduced in the House in March and referred to two committees without action so far.

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• In Vermont, House Bill 235 would create the 2-cent tax at the wholesale level, but since it was referred to committee in February, it hasn't moved.

• In San Francisco, Proposition E, which would have levied a 2-cent-per-ounce tax on drinks with added sugar, was defeated at the polls in November after the American Beverage Association spent more than $9 million on a public campaign.

In June, New York City failed in its bid to ban soda sizes exceeding 16 ounces, losing a lawsuit in the state court of appeals.

Only Berkeley, Calif., where voters in November approved a penny-per-ounce tax for drinks with added sugar, now has such a tax that specifically goes toward public health.

"There is nothing in a tax that will make anybody any more healthy," said spokesman Roger Salazar of CalBev, the California arm of the trade group that represents soft-drink, juice, sports-drink, flavored-tea and energy-drink manufacturers and distributors. "It basically scapegoats the issue and puts it on one industry."

A statewide coalition of health-care organizations has supported the measure.

"I think childhood obesity is something that hasn't been necessarily dealt with properly," said Julia Reifkin, a student at the University of California-Davis. "I think if it's 2 cents, that's not too much in the long run."

Nationwide, the consumption of sugary beverages has increased fivefold in the past 50 years, said pediatrician Barbara Frankowski of the University of Vermont. Sugary beverages are responsible for about one-fifth of weight gain in the U.S. population from 1977 to 2007.

Initial results from a sugary beverage tax levied in Mexico show that the consumption declined by about 10% after the tax went into effect 2014, she said.

"I don't think the money's going to make a difference," said Joyce Jantz of Elk Grove, Calif. "I think somebody watching their diet and deciding that it's not good for you is going to make a difference."

Contributing: Paris Achen, The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press