NAMA announced it is celebrating two significant victories in ballot initiatives directly impacting the industry; one in Telluride, Colo. and one in Washington.
NAMA assisted in the effort to defeat a measure to impose a one-cent per one fluid ounce tax on certain sugar-sweetened beverages sold in Telluride. This would have burdened business owners with a new tax compliance and impacted consumers with higher costs. Residents of Telluride, Colo. voted “no” on the proposed tax on Nov. 5, 2013.
NAMA joined the Colorado Vending Council, the American Beverage Association and other industry organizations and leaders in educating the community on the effects of this proposed tax increase on the industry.
“Thanks to informed voters, we avoided what would have been an overly-burdensome tax on the industry and its consumers. We look forward to working with Telluride and other communities to promote healthy choices within the industry without raising taxes and imposing additional regulations,” said Eric Dell, NAMA’s senior vice president of government affairs, in a prepared statement.
In Washington state, the I-522 bill was also defeated by voters. Sandy Larson, NAMA’s government affairs counsel, worked to spearhead the Northwest Automatic Vending Association’s activities to defeat this measure. “If I-522 would have passed, it would have had a major impact on the vending and refreshment services industry in Washington,” said Larson.
Dell said, “Moving forward, there will continue to be challenges like these all across the country. You can count on NAMA to do everything in its power to help foster a business-friendly climate whenever the opportunity arises.”
