Soda Tax Succeeds In Berkeley, Fizzles In San Francisco

Voters in Berkeley, Calif., have passed the nation’s first soda tax with a resounding 75 percent of the vote. The measure aims to reduce the effects of sugar consumption on health, especially increased rates of obesity and diabetes. Across the bay in San Francisco, however, a similar proposal failed to get the two-thirds supermajority it needed. More than 30 cities and states across the country have attempted but failed to enact such a tax, at least in part because of well-funded opposition from the soda industry. Berkeley’s Measure D needed only a simple majority to pass. It will levy a penny-per-ounce tax on most sugar-sweetened beverages and is estimated to raise more than $1 million per year. Proceeds will go to the general fund; Measure D calls for the creation of a health panel to advise Berkeley’s City Council on appropriate health programs to receive funding. Campaign Co-Chair Josh Daniels called Berkeley’s win a tipping point. “I think you will now see many, many other cities and communities around the country looking at this as a genuine public policy to address the diabetes and obesity crisis that we face,” he said. While the San Francisco proposition did not pass, supporters there declared a victory of their own: More than half the voters approved the tax despite millions spent by the American Beverage Association to defeat it...more