Statehouse Insider: Lawmakers tackle soda tax this week

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The Desert Sun

Would you be willing to pay a little more for your next soda to help local schools battle childhood obesity?

That's the question being asked by state lawmakers, who this week will consider a bill that taxes distributors of sodas and other sweetened beverages $0.01 cent per fluid ounce.

The tax could generate $1.7 billion annually for the cash-strapped state, according to a study by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, which supports the idea.

That estimate includes nearly $96 million a year for Riverside County — roughly $233 per student — for programs that encourage healthy food selections and active lifestyles.

“Our residents are going to benefit,” said Cathedral City Councilman Greg Pettis, who is part of a regional effort that promotes healthier communities.

“It's a way of highlighting the nutritional issues as well as creating a funding source to take care of our challenges with the budget cuts. “

The so-called soda tax has been considered before. In 2010, a Senate bill to create such a program died in committee.

The version now under consideration is Assembly Bill 669, authored by Democratic Assemblyman Bill Monning.

The bill will be heard on the Assembly Revenue and Taxation on Monday.

But don't expect it to get support from Assemblyman Brian Nestande.

“You're singling out a particular industry,” said Nestande, a Palm Desert Republican who sits on the committee.

“Taxes should be fair and equitable, not singling out a particular industry or problem.”

Making a case

The heads of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the National Federation of Independent Business will be in Palm Desert Monday.

Their goal: Rally opposition to Senate Bill 653.

The bill, authored by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, would give county supervisors the authority to raise taxes on everything from personal and corporation income to vehicle licenses and alcoholic beverages.

Such tax hikes would still have to meet the appropriate voter approval requirements.

The bill will have a committee hearing on May 4, though some have speculated the legislation is way to pressure Republicans to compromise on Gov. Jerry Brown's budget plan.