Philadelphia could become 1st major US city with soda tax

Meanwhile, the public is left to ponder whether a broader-based levy would have been more appropriate to help balance the city’s budget. Residents in San Francisco and Boulder, Colo., also are trying to put a tax on the ballot.

In April, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s proposed soda tax became a bone of contention in the Democratic presidential primary race, when Sen.

That’s what some sugary drinks tax advocates predict, and they make a pretty convincing case.

If the consumption tax clears its final vote in Philadelphia’s City Council, as expected, it will mark a first for a major USA city.

The City Council is scheduled to take a key vote Wednesday on what is expected to be a compromise measure.

Kenney is pleased with the green light that could make Philadelphia the first major USA city to implement a tax on sugary drinks.

The amended soda tax bill passed favorably out of the Committee of the Whole on Wednesday night. He says they’ve gotten off to a similar start as anti-smoking legislation did.

Companies such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are in a long-standing battle with lawmakers and health campaigners regarding selling their sodas and other sugary drinks. The first federal excise tax on tobacco was enacted during the Civil War; Iowa was home to the first state-level cigarette tax in 1921.

On Thursday, Clarke announced a series of hearings on the city’s financial health.

Clarke said in a statement following the vote that the inclusion of diet soda into the taxable drinks helped swing some Council members toward approval.

In fact, he thinks even the federal government will pass its own soda tax someday. A TV ad from a group called New Yorkers Against Unfair Taxes showed a mother unpacking groceries and saying, “Tell Albany to trim their budget fat and leave our groceries alone”.

Brownell and Krieger also believe that big-soda bans will likely spread throughout the country in the future. Perhaps that’s why Nanny State former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg intervened to spent thousands of dollars to support the push for this tax.

The new soda tax would be on top of the 8% sales tax that already applies to soda in Pennsylvania. “You also had a mayor who was just elected, so he’s in a honeymoon period”, he says. The tax approved on Wednesday during the first round of voting was half of Kenney’s suggestion, $1.5 cents. “But the importance for increased funding for quality pre-k, community schools and improvements to the city’s recreation centers can not be debated”. “He encourages all Philadelphians to thank their Councilmembers for standing up to the soda industry”.

The expected introduction of the sugar tax marks the third time that Philadelphia City Council has attempted to introduce such a tax and will be seen as a victory for health campaigners.