O
n Wednesday, Washington, DC Council Member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) proposed a new 1 cent-per-ounce soda and sugary beverage tax for the District, as a way to raise $6.5 million in funds needed to institute an ambitious new school food and child health initiative, the Healthy Schools Act of 2010. The legislation has been months in the making, and mirrors many components of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign.Cheh proposed the soda tax to fellow Council members via memo, and quoted President Obama as an advocate of a soda tax, with a comment from a 2009 interview President Obama gave to Men's Health:
“There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda," President Obama said. "And every study that’s been done about obesity shows that there is as high a correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just about anything else.”
That's a true statement, but the White House is not publicly advocating a federal soda tax, although President Obama's quote put a deep fear in the industry, which launched a successful multi-million dollar campaign earlier this year to ensure there would be no Congressional consideration of a national soda tax. On a happier and more productive note, major beverage companies, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, have partnered with Mrs. Obama's Let's Move! campaign, to work on child obesity initiatives. Somewhat ironically, President Obama has had numerous sodas created in his honor, including the one by Jones soda company, in the photo at the top of the post.
The District has a high rate of adult overweight and obesity, as well as the highest rate of adolescent obesity in the country, and Cheh said in her soda tax memo to fellow Council members that the measure is a way to encourage healthier beverage choices and promote public health, in addition to raising funds.
Council support, no matter what the White House position
There is likely much support for Cheh's proposal of the soda tax, as DC faces a large budget deficit, about $550 million, for the next fiscal year. Cheh needs just six colleagues to vote with her for the measure to pass.
There is also much support for Cheh's Healthy Schools Act, something the White House could really get behind, because Mrs. Obama's campaign is all about encouraging local initiatives to combat child obesity. The Act was created with the input of dozens of local school food, garden, and health advocates and groups, and has much public support, as well as the support of the American Heart Association, among other professional advocacy groups. Included in the broad progressive plan is universal access for breakfast and lunch programs, which require healthier cafeteria options, and use farm to school sourcing. Training school food workers is a priority, and there is also a school garden component, a green environmental initiative, and required 60 minutes of physical activity per day in schools. All of these components are encouraged by Mrs. Obama's Let's Move! campaign.
The Healthy Schools Act will be voted on on May 4, so schools can organize changes for the next school year, which begins in August of 2010. It's a visionary revamp of the local program, for some 75,000 students in public and charter schools, and will also set up many local schools to be able to participate in Mrs. Obama's HealthierUS Schools Challenge. Currently, no District schools meet the qualifications for this program, which was created by USDA in 2004 and is now under the rubric of Let's Move!.
Although Cheh is proposing as much as a penny per ounce in soda taxes, the exact amount has not yet been set. The proposal will tax beverages as "soft drinks," as defined by the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement, which was developed by 44 states and the District of Columbia for states to use common nationwide definitions of terms. It includes sugary beverages such as sweetened tea, diet sodas, and energy drinks, in all venues where these are sold.
Soda tax vote at the end of May
The proposal will come up for a vote before the 13-member Council when it votes on the Budget Support Act, which the Council will pass along with the District's FY 2011 budget on May 25.
In Cheh's memo to fellow council members, she noted that Virginia and Maryland, as well as 28 other states have soda taxes. The $6.5 million the soda tax would provide is to set up program components for the Healthy Schools Act, and does not include food costs for schools, which are in another part of the budget. It would, however, add an additional ten cents per meal per child for food costs for charter schools, and fifteen cents per meal per child for public schools.
