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Activists in Multnomah County are resurrecting a failed effort from 2012 to tax sodas and other sugary drinks to fund education and health programs.
Saying a 1-cent-per-ounce tax on the distribution of sugary drinks including sports drinks would raise $22 million a year in Multnomah County, activists with Upstream Public Health are pursuing a ballot initiative that could put the matter in front of voters in November.
Money from the tax would pay for "children's nutrition, physical activity and early education" and "would focus on programs serving low-income communities and people of color," a press release for the initiative says.
Portland physician Gregg Coodley lead a similar effort in 2012 but dropped his soda-tax measure before it went to voters. As in 2012, activists are pursuing the tax without the backing of Multnomah County government.
Mel Rader, the executive director of Upstream who ran unsuccessfully for the county commission last month, says the idea of a soda tax has more momentum now than four years ago. Voters in Berkeley, Calif., approved a soda tax in 2014, he notes. And now Philadelphia is looking to approve a 1.5-cent-per-ounce soda tax—more than $2 on a 12-pack.
Upstream Public Health advocates say a soda tax is an "ideal way" to fund children's health programs, because it will also lower the amount of sugary drinks kids consume.
In Berkeley, hard figures for soda consumption have been hard to come by, but prices on soda bottles have gone up, The Mercury News reported in November.
Willamette Week