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Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D) wants his state to be the first to levy an additional tax on soft drinks and soda.
In a budget proposal tabled on Wednesday, Lamont called on lawmakers to impose a new 1.5 cents per ounce tax on sweetened beverages. The tax would generate about $ 163 million in new revenue for the next fiscal year, said Lamont's office.
The money is part of a set of new revenue streams aimed at bridging the $ 2 billion budget deficit of Connecticut. Lamont also proposed new taxes on electronic cigarette liquids, an extra 10 cents on plastic bags and new deposits on wine and spirits bottles.
The proposal to tax sweetened beverages is not new: a dozen other countries levy taxes on sugar-sweetened drinks. And some US cities, mostly liberal enclaves, have introduced similar taxes, including Berkeley, California; San Francisco, Seattle and Philadelphia.
But some of these cities have experienced a significant political backlash in the implementation of the new tax, suggesting that Lamont's plan could enter a treacherous political territory.
Cook County, Ill., Passed a 1 cent per ounce soda tax in 2016, after a group backed by former New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, funded a campaign for this tax. But the public outcry was so strong that the county commission canceled the tax almost unanimously less than a year later.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney also claimed a soft drink tax in 2016. Several soft drink manufacturers and retailers said they had fired dozens of workers, citing the impact of the tax, though 39, it remained in force after the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality last year.
In Connecticut, the fight can become just as fierce.
"Similar taxes on sugary drinks in Philadelphia, Boulder and Seattle have not generated significant revenue and harmed local businesses," said Chris Taylor, Connecticut resident and chief operating officer. from Boylan Bottling Co., a New York-based artisanal soda maker. City. "It is troubling that our governor and the Hartford Democrats are willing to target a specific business sector rather than focusing on renegotiating bad agreements with unions within the state."
Perhaps as a sign of political risk-taking by Lamont, the governor did not mention the tax proposed in his budget speech to the legislator on Wednesday.
Connecticut will not be the only front in the war between makers of soda and those who support taxes on sweetened drinks. The California Dental Association and the California Medical Association are collecting signatures for an initiative that would appear on the 2020 ballot, and the state legislature is discussing its own taxes on sugary drinks.
Updated at 16:51
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