Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, is proposing a $1.7 billion tax on sweetened beverages sold across the state, an effort to target increases in obesity-related ailments such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, which health experts say is partly due to the increased consumption of sugary drinks, according to The Silicon Valley Mercury News in San Jose, Calif.
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Editor's Insight: This is the second California lawmaker to publicly support a beverage tax to fight obesity in two weeks.
The California Automatic Vendors Council has to work with other beverage industry organizations to prevent this proposal. Tax advocates have plenty of supporters in California, but most taxpayers do not want additional taxes. 02-22-11 Elliot Maras
