SACRAMENTO -- A bill to tax soda to fight childhood obesity cleared a Senate
committee Wednesday after a debate over whether soft drink sales should be
banned from California campuses.
Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) wants to tax sodas and other sweetened
drinks, including certain iced tea and cranberry juice beverages, at a rate
of about 2 cents per 12-ounce serving and use the revenue to combat rising
cases of obesity, diabetes and osteoporosis among children.
Diet sodas and beverages that contain more than 50% natural fruit juice
would be exempted. The excise tax, which would be imposed on beverage
distributors but would probably be passed on to consumers, would raise about
$340 million a year, according to projections. Some of the revenue would be
devoted to programs aimed at preventing childhood obesity, educating kids
about their teeth and paying dental bills. But most of the money would be
used to help get schools out of the business of selling soda and junk food,
which they now depend on to fund activities."

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-000025827apr11.story?
coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dpe%2Dcalifornia


They can use the money raised to promote low fat, high carb diets ;-)

--Richard