A tax on sugary drinks takes effect Thursday in the community by the beach of Santa Cruz, seven years after California prohibited its cities and counties from implementing local grocery taxes as part of a reluctant agreement with the powerful drinks industry.
The tax of 2 cents per ounce, approved by voters in November, is the first of the state since the legislators approved theDeal 2018. The American Beverage Association spent massively to campaign against the voting measure in the small town of 60,000, and before the court called the illegal tax and likely to extend the resources of the city.
Santa Cruz officials are ready to challenge the state pre -emption law before the court and, despite legal uncertainty, hopes that their new tax will encourage other states and cities to act. The measure aims to reduce sugar consumption, especially in children and adolescents, and to collect funds for health programs and other community initiatives.
“It is a question of democracy and to resist particular interests,” said Shebreh Kalatari-Johnson, vice-mayor of the Municipal Council of Santa Cruz. “It is a question of having the independence of generating income for our community.”
The commercial organization representingCoca-ColaPepsico and others said in a statement on Wednesday that he valued the next steps.
The tax was opposed to a large coalition, including unions and small businesses, “as an unfair burden for workers families with record prices,” said Steven Maviglio, spokesperson for the American Beverage Association.
Health defenders have been fighting for more than a decade to tax sugary drinks, saying that higher prices would limit the consumption of a product that increases the risk of obesity, heart disease and stroke. Opponents say that the regressive tax has a disproportionate impact on low -income families that can the least afford it and harm local businesses.
Berkeley, a neighboring city similar to Santa Cruz, succeeded in 2014 the first tax in the country aiming specifically on sugary drinks. A handful of other cities followed, including nearbySan Francisco, Oakland and Albanyas well asPhiladelphia; Seattle and Boulder, Colorado.
No state has approved a tax on sugary drinks at the level of the state, althoughSome have tried.
In 2018, California legislators reluctantly adopted the affordable act of Keep Groceries,Prohibit local taxes on sodaand other sugary drinks until 2031. In exchange, the California Business round table defense groupwithdrew a voting measure supported by the drinks industryIt would have made much more difficult for cities and counties to increase taxes.
The agreement forced Santa Cruz to abandon his plans to bring a tax on sugary drinks to a vote. But city leaders have not abandoned.
The same year, a member of the municipal council and a plea in non -profit health continued, arguing that the provision of the penalties of the law of the grocery store illegally targeted the cities with charter approved by the voters to exercise its authority over local affairs. Under the law, a charter city which continued a local tax on sugary drinks could be penalized by losing its income from sales tax.
In 2023, however, a state court of appeal canceled the sanction arrangement as unconstitutional, but did not rule on the pre-emption itself. In June, the Santa Cruz municipal council put a tax measure on the ballot and in November, nearly 32,000 voters approved it with a margin of 52 to 48.
The “no” team spent $ 2.8 million; The “Yes” team spent less than $ 100,000.
The 2 hundred per ounce tax applies to sodas, ice teas, sports drinks and any other non -alcoholic drink which contains an additional caloric sweetener and 40 calories or more by 12 ounces of fluid drink. There is an exemption for small businesses with less than $ 500,000 in raw recipes per year.
Carina Moreno opposed the tax measure and said that she will have to increase prices in her restaurant, Tacos Moreno.
“I was really disappointed when I heard that she had passed,” she said in an email. “We are already paying high prices for sugar drinks.”
But the tax defenders say that the victory of Santa Cruz is amazing given how much money the opposition spent.
Dr. John Maa, a San Francisco surgeon and chairman of the American Heart Association Advisory Committee in California, said the future of sugary drinks can reside in smaller communities where defenders can mobilize the support of the base.
“It's a big week for the sodas tax movement,” he said.
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
