After nearly five hours of debate, the Richmond, Calif. city council voted late Tuesday to put tandem ballot measures to local voters, according to The Marin Independent Journal in Novato, Calif. One would impose a business license fee of 1 cent per ounce of sugar-sweetened beverages sold by local businesses. For the full story, click here.
Editor’s Insight: California vending operators and other beverage providers have their work cut out for them. This measure has a lot of support among activists.
Given the fact that the state’s governor has already warned of more tax hikes, how much taxation do these activists think taxpayers can handle?
The great irony here is that many if not most of these tax advocates call themselves allies of the underdog. They say this with a straight face as they support a measure that will impact the lower income citizens the most since merchants will be forced to pass the tax on to consumers. 05-17-12 By Elliot Maras
