Facts & FAQs
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Frequently Asked Questions
While Californians work to recover from the economic downturn, the politicians who brought you the state’s budget problems have set their sights on yet another tax increase – this time on food and beverages!
The Legislature may be out of control, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to control our lives.
Some politicians think that by passing laws and increasing taxes on foods and beverages, they can force people to live healthier lifestyles. The Legislature needs to focus on the problems we elected them to solve – And not on policing our behavior.
Higher taxes do not make people healthier.
Many in Sacramento believe they can tax Californians to better health. Here’s a news flash: making smart decisions about diet and exercise leads to better health, NOT NEW TAXES. Promoting physical education and better nutrition are more effective tools our government can use to improve health.
We can’t trust the politicians to spend new tax money wisely.
Nobody argues that California is in a financial crisis. But the problem is not that there isn’t enough money. From 2004 to 2008, tax receipts in California rose by $29 billion. But during the same period, spending went up a whopping $43 billion.
We simply cannot trust state legislators to spend our taxpayer dollars effectively. Just like the state lottery, it will inevitably end up getting raided to pay for other projects and wasteful programs.
Higher food and beverage taxes today…what’s next?
If the politicians get away with their plan to increase food and beverage taxes, it will only encourage them to impose more and more taxes or “fees” on everything from fast food to cars to gasoline. Already, powerful special interests in Sacramento are pushing plans to raise some 30 different taxes – to the tune of $80 billion!
Q. Who are Californians Against Food and Beverage Taxes?
A. Californians Against Food and Beverages Taxes is a coalition of concerned Californians – hard-working individuals and families, associations that represent Californians across the state, and already burdened small businesses – opposed to new taxes on foods and beverages. Some politicians in Sacramento are proposing a tax – or “fee” – on sugared beverages to pay for government programs to combat obesity. Our coalition understands that obesity is a serious problem that is caused by a number of variables. But we also understand that Californians are already among the mostly highly taxed citizens in the nation; that we can’t tolerate a regressive tax that disproportionately targets middle and lower income Californians; and that we won’t be fooled by Sacramento trying to control our lifestyle by policing what we eat and drink.
Q. Couldn’t this tax increase also damage California’s economy?
A. Without a doubt, this tax increase could do serious damage to our already fragile economy. The beverage industry supports more than 325,000 jobs in California communities large and small. Every month the beverage industry provides paychecks to thousands of families around the state, adding up to $13 billion in wages and benefits each year. Taxes paid by beverage industry businesses, suppliers and employees already generate over $6.2 billion annually for our state. The severe tax hikes on beverages would put at risk good-paying jobs with good health benefits for many hard-working Californians– hitting them in both their checkbook and their paycheck.
Q. Aren’t there already taxes and fees on soft drinks sold in California?
A. You bet there are, loads of them. California sales tax and California Redemption Value (CRV) deposits can account for as much as 27.2% of the purchase price. Californians already pay some of the highest sales taxes in the nation, and a tax like this would further burden working families.
Q. Who will be most affected by this new tax on juice drinks and soda?
A. This tax increase will have a disproportionate impact on those who can least afford to pay the higher costs, especially middle and lower-income Californians. California families already pay some of the highest taxes in the nation, and are struggling in this difficult economy. There could not be a worse time to ask them to pay more for the products they consume.
Q. Champions of a tax increase claim that it will reduce obesity. How would that work?
A. Many politicians have been referring to a beverage tax as an “obesity” tax in order to distract us from its enormous cost, the adverse effect it will have on jobs, and from the fact that it could also apply to juice drinks that families consume every day. The obesity claim is just a cover for state government asking taxpayers to dig them out of a budget mess, again. We aren’t fooled…and neither are the experts. Even a past president of the American Dietetic Association and a prestigious Harvard study have concluded that they cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship between soda and obesity. Taxing one product will have no effect on obesity.