Public Hearing Scheduled for California Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax

A sugar-sweetened beverage tax proposal (S.B. 622) introduced in February 2013 by Sen. Bill Monning (D) and co-sponsored by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, is scheduled for public hearing on April 24, 2013. The proposed legislation would impose a 1 cent per fluid ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to finance a Children’s Health Promotion Fund that would pay for a statewide childhood obesity prevention program and apply to all sugar-sweetened beverage distributors whether their products are bottled or sold as concentrate.

“This bill will combat the obesity crisis and ensure that our children—and
future generations of Californians—are not doomed to a shorter life expectancy
and can instead live longer, healthier lives,” Monning has been quoted
as saying. Details about S.B. 622 appear in Issue 473 of this Update. See Los
Angeles Times, February 26, 2013.