California lawmakers need to end their unhealthy relationship with Big Soda.
While the soda industry pours millions into legislators’ campaigns every year, state taxpayers pay billions in obesity-related health care costs because of sugary beverage consumption.
Big Soda was at it again Tuesday, forcing legislators to shelve two bills aimed at reducing Californians’ soda consumption. But Assemblyman Richard Bloom’s soda tax proposal, AB 138, passed the Assembly Health Committee by an 8-5 vote. The bill would add a fee of 2 cents per fluid ounce, or 24 cents for a 12-ounce can, of soda. The tax would raise an estimated $2 billion a year for health care programs. The Legislature should stand up to Big Soda and pass the tax on sugary drinks, and Gov. Gavin Newsom should sign it into law.
The soda industry argues that soda taxes are regressive and put an unfair burden on working families and neighborhood stores. That would be a winning argument if the devastating impact of consuming sugary drinks wasn’t so compelling.
The link between drinking sweetened beverages and obesity, diabetes and heart disease is overwhelming. The American Heart Association reports that adults who consume one soda or more daily are 27 percent more likely to be overweight or obese, regardless of their economic status, race or ethnicity.
The cost of treating diabetes-related medical problems is astronomical. The American Diabetes Association says that people with diabetes have medical expenses approximately 2.3 times higher than those without. It estimates the total medical expenses for Californians with diabetes at more than $20 billion a year.
Those costs will only increase given the state’s upward trend of childhood obesity. About 60 percent of California children ages 12-17 drink soda on a daily basis, and 40 percent of those same youth are overweight or obese.
It’s appalling that California lawmakers know these numbers but fail to stand up to the soda industry.
Big Soda won’t be easy to beat this year. This is an industry that last summer leveraged California’s initiative rules to win legislation banning more cities from taxing soda pop. Four California cities — Albany, Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco — had already passed soda taxes.
Fearing that more cities would follow the example, the industry spent $7 million collecting signatures for an initiative that would have made more local taxes subject to two-thirds voter approval, rather than a simple majority. The scheme scared local and state lawmakers into forging a deal: The soda industry withdrew the initiative and the state placed a moratorium on new local soda taxes until 2031.
Similar pressure forced Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, on Tuesday to abandon his effort to ban “Big Gulp” drinks in California. The measure would have outlawed stores and restaurants from selling unsealed sugary drinks in cups larger than 16 ounces. Lobbying also forced Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, to withdraw her bill banning the display of sugary drinks near the checkout counters of supermarkets and other stores.
Fortunately, the soda tax bill thus far has survived. The connection between California’s growing health care costs and the consumption of soda is undeniable. A soda tax isn’t ideal, but it’s clearly in the best interests of Californians’ health. And their pocketbooks.
