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A tax on sugary drinks might fund essential packages and enhance public well being, however critics argue it might hurt small companies and other people already struggling financially.
Boston Metropolis Council will quickly debate the feasibility of imposing new taxes on sugary drinks. This might contains many sodas, fruit drinks, sports activities drinks, power drinks, and sweetened espresso drinks.
Councilor Sharon Durkan filed a listening to order this week calling for councilors to listen to from consultants and examine how a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, or SSBs, can be carried out. She outlined her argument in a Substack submit final weekend.
In Boston, a 1% or 2% per-ounce tax on SSBs might stop greater than 6,000 circumstances of weight problems, scale back diabetes by 9%, and save greater than $90 million in healthcare prices over the primary decade of implementation, Durkan mentioned throughout Wednesday’s assembly. It will generate about $20 million to $30 million for the town yearly, cash that Durkan calls “transformational.”
“This isn’t only a coverage to control sugary drinks. This can be a step in the direction of a more healthy, extra equitable Boston,” Durkan mentioned.
Councilors Gabriela Coletta Zapata, Henry Santana, Ben Weber, Brian Worrell, and Ruthzee Louijeune added their names to the listening to order throughout Wednesday’s assembly. It was referred to the Committee on Methods and Means, which can maintain a listening to at a future date. Any ensuing house rule petition would want to clear Beacon Hill if it have been ultimately handed by Metropolis Council.
SSBs are the single largest supply of energy and added sugar in American diets, in accordance with Harvard’s T.H. Chan Faculty of Public Well being. Along with weight achieve, routine consumption of those drinks can improve the chance of sort 2 diabetes, coronary heart illness, liver most cancers, and the general chance of untimely demise.
Cities throughout the nation have imposed SSB taxes, together with Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boulder, Oakland, and Seattle. A latest examine from the College of California, Berkeley discovered a direct correlation between SSB tax implementation and a lower in SSB purchases. Retail costs of SSBs elevated by 33.1% over the 2 years following implementation, whereas SSB purchases decreased by 33% in the identical timeframe.
Not solely would a drop in sugary drink consumption enhance public well being, however the cash from an SSB tax could possibly be used to double down on these advantages by way of issues like meals literacy packages that educate folks the way to prepare dinner wholesome meals and improved leisure areas. A few of the cash may be allotted to the town’s basic fund and assist Boston construct infrastructure, housing, and enhance schooling, Durkan wrote.
Any effort to go a house rule petition will doubtless have to beat stiff resistance. Councilor Ed Flynn mentioned Wednesday that he had spoken with members of Teamsters Native 25 who’re “clearly opposed” to the thought. He mentioned that small companies and residents are already hurting resulting from tough financial situations.
“Throughout difficult instances, it’s not the precise time so as to add extra taxes. We have to help residents and never hit them with as many taxes as we’ve been. We have to be fiscally disciplined and fiscally accountable,” Flynn mentioned.
Councilor Julia Mejia mentioned she was “excited” by the listening to order, however cautioned that councilors must remember the fact that many individuals of shade and low-income residents already “really feel beneath assault” by the federal government telling them what they will eat and drink. She additionally talked about the potential for an SSB tax to hurt small companies.
Durkan, regardless of her advocacy, careworn that the method shouldn’t be rushed and that councilors want to listen to from all kinds of stakeholders. She additionally addressed a few of the considerations about SSB taxes in her Substack submit.
“Critics of SSBTs argue that they’re regressive, disproportionately impacting low-income households. However the proof means that these are the identical communities that bear the best burden of power illnesses and would profit essentially the most from the well being initiatives funded by the tax,” Durkan wrote.
Ought to Boston have a sugar tax?
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