D.C. Council Eyes Soda Tax

The council would use the tax to fund its campaign to counter childhood obesity, which includes changing school menus.

May 04, 2010

WASHINGTON - Today, the Washington, D.C., Council will okay a school nutrition and physical education program that would authorize low-fat and low-calorie meals and increase exercise three times more than current standards, the Washington Post reports.

The mandate would be among the most restrictive in the nation. School lunches and breakfast would include no trans fats and lower sat and saturate fats to meet the federal "gold standard" for lunches. Schools would be asked to purchase organic produce from local farms.

To fund the approximately $23 million program (over four years), council member Mary Cheh will ask for a penny-per-ounce soft drink tax. It appears that many on the council supports such a soda tax.

Council members voted two weeks ago to preliminary approve the Healthy Schools Act without a soft drink tax. The council wants to put its final stamp on the act so that school officials can implement the changes by the fall.

"Some states have different pieces of this, but I think this is probably the most comprehensive look at all of this anywhere in the country," said Cheh.

However, not everyone is happy about a tax on soda, no matter what the tax would fund. This soft drink tax is "nothing short of a money grab from the working families and citizens of the District of Columbia," said Ellen Valentino, executive vice president of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Beverage Association, which will fight that tax.

"It??s very regressive, and now is not the time to add new costs and taxes to working families?? grocery store shopping cart bills," said Valentino.

Cheh sees a tax on sugary drinks as bringing in $16 million annually, with $6 million going to run the Healthy Kids Act and $10 million available for other programs.

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