People in California and all over the United States seem to have very mixed feelings and opinions about the soda tax. While many argue that it should be up to people to decide what they want to drink and think that taxing drinks like sodas is extremely unfair, many others believe that this tax should go into place to discourage people from drinking unhealthy beverages. 

Sacramento Democrat Deborah Ortiz introduced the “California Soda Tax” proposal (Senate Bill 1520), in 2002 in high hopes of passing a bill that would increase tax on the purchases of still and carbonated drinks. This would include sodas and other drinks like juices that have 10 percent or less fruit and vegetable concentrates. If this bill was to pass it would have imposed a surtax of $2 per gallon of beverage syrup to distributors, wholesale dealers and manufactures of these beverages.  It would also impose a 21-cent per gallon increase for all drinks that can be mixed from powder.

As obesity and diabetes are major problems in the United States, the government is trying to find ways to improve health.  The soda tax would be one such initiative. Many people see this as positive step towards helping people lead healthier lives because it could lower the consumption of beverages like sodas, since their prices would rise.

Yet there are other people like the manufacturers of these products that are absolutely against this tax.They believe that soda should not be the only product blamed for such illnesses as diabetes and obesity; there are other products that contribute to poor health. They believe that a tax should not be imposed; it should be up to people to determine what to drink and how they go about it.

If this bill or something similar to it were passed, it would raise about $300-400 million each year that would be disbursed to schools and health programs. Some of the money would be given to schools that agree not to sell soda on their campuses; some would be allocated to the state Department of Health Services; and the rest would be given to clinics, emergency centers, trauma care centers and hospitals.  By focusing on the prevention of obesity and diabetes, our country would save millions of dollars, which would otherwise be spent on treating such health problems in the future; this thought is shared by many, including President Obama.   

So far this soda tax has been proposed in New York, amongst other cities. Currently, there is a lot of discussion around this tax being implemented in more and more places, including California. Although this bill was introduced in California in 2002, the battle will continue between people who believe that the tax is unfair and between others who believe it’s time for the government to take responsibility and discourage people from drinking unhealthy beverages. 

Helpful Resources:

CCPHA Resources/ Soda tax

Soda Tax Weighed to Pay for Health Care

The Rudd Center Health Digest: Soda Tax Proposed in New York

Operators call Calif. soda tax proposal big, fat pain