California Senator to Hold Hearing on Soda Taxes

Calfornia Senator Alex Padilla (D-San Fernando Valley) will hold a hearing at Los Angeles City Hall next Thursday, November 5th, at 10 am to consider and promote an excise tax on soda. 

While a very bad idea, proposals to levy an excise tax on soft drinks are nothing new. Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) introduced a 2-cent tax on every can/bottle of soda as well as juice drinks in 2002. Just this year, the White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill have proposed a soda tax to pay for government-run health care.

In an interview with Men’s Health, President Obama called a soda tax "an idea worth exploring," despite the fact that it would break one of his central campaign promises to not raise taxes on those making less than $250,000 per year. A Rassmussen Reports poll from May of this year found that only one in three Americans support an excise tax on soft drinks.

Americans for Tax Reform’s testimony in opposition to soda taxes in California will be posted to www.atr.org on the day of the hearing.