Ballot 2016: Oakland Soda Tax Opponents’ Tactics ‘Blatant Lies,’ Council Members Claim
Three Oakland City Council members say the beverage industry is calling the initiative a "grocery tax," which would actually apply to other items in stores rather than just sugary beverages.
KQED:
Oakland Soda Tax Backers To File Complaint Over Opposition Ads
Three Oakland City Council members are calling on local and federal agencies to investigate opponents of the city’s proposed soda tax on the fall ballot. They say the beverage industry’s advertising is deceptive. At issue are opposition TV ads and a flier that label the effort a ” ‘Grocery Tax’ [that] can be applied to any item in the store, not just sodas.” (Aliferis, 7/14)
California Healthline:
Soda Taxes: Gaining Steam Or Getting Steamrolled?
A sip of soda will become more expensive next year in Philadelphia, which recently became the second city in the United States to pass a tax on sugary beverages — after Berkeley voters passed one in 2014. The Philadelphia measure, approved by the City Council in June, could lend momentum to efforts by public health advocates to get similar taxes enacted elsewhere around the nation. Voters in three Northern California cities — San Francisco, Oakland and Albany — will decide in November whether to approve such taxes. A soda tax initiative in San Francisco in 2014 failed to get the two-thirds vote needed to pass. (Gorman, 7/15)
In other news on proposed ballot measures —
The Press Democrat:
Analysis: Mental Health Ballot Measure Could Create Deficit In Mendocino County
A sales tax proposal that would raise an estimated $37 million over five years to build new facilities in Mendocino County for mental health and drug and alcohol rehabilitation services could leave the county with a $4.8 million hole in its general fund annually, according to a just-released financial report on the proposed ballot measure. But then again, it might not, according to the report commissioned by the county Board of Supervisors and released late Thursday. (Anderson, 7/14)