California Cities to Vote on Soft Drink Tax

Citizens of San Francisco and Berkeley will be voting on the implementation
of a soda tax in the November 2014 elections. Similar taxes have failed to
garner sufficient support in the past five years, with about 30 propositions
introduced and none passed, including two that went to ballot and were
defeated in California in 2012.

Other countries have found more success with similar measures—among
others, France and Mexico have each imposed taxes on sugary drinks. The
San Francisco proposal, which needs a two-thirds vote to pass, would add a
2-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks, excluding milk or natural fruit juice
without added sugar, while the similar Berkeley proposal is 1-cent per-ounce
and needs only a majority of the vote. See Associated Press, July 8, 2014.

Issue 529