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ECLECTIC RANT: San Francisco's Missed Opportunity to Pass Anti-Obesity Soda Tax
It is now old news that San Francisco’s proposed Soda Tax (Proposition E) did not pass and Berkeley’s (Measure D) did. Proposition E would have placed a two-cent per ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages while Berkeley’s Measure D will now place a one-cent per ounce tax.
Proposition E required a two-thirds majority to pass because the tax revenue would have gone into a special fund for recreation and nutrition programs in schools and parks. Proposition E received 55 percent of the vote, less than the two-thirds requirement for passage.
Berkeley’s Measure D required only a majority to pass because the tax funds will go into the general fund. Measure D passed easily with 75 percent of the vote.
Why the interest in a soda tax? Research has shown that reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption would reduce the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other chronic health problems.
What is puzzling is why the authors of Proposition E chose to have the tax proceeds go to a special fund rather than to the general fund, thus requiring a two-thirds majority to pass.
According to San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, who spearheaded the legislation, “Had we gone with a general tax, Prop E would have lost badly. We would have been lucky to get more than 40% of the vote. San Francisco isn’t Berkeley. For many people, what moved them from skepticism to yes were the guaranteed and important uses.”
I am not sure I agree with Supervisor Wiener. Surely, emphasizing the consequences of sugar-sweetened beverages resonated with voters as much as where the tax funds would have gone.
The Proposition E authors knew or should have known that the American Beverage Industry (ABI) would spend heavily to defeat the measure. In fact, the ABI spent more than $10 million to defeat Proposition E. In retrospect, the authors of Proposition E misread the voting public as to whether they would support a tax for general purposes which would require only a simple majority for passage.
The bottom line: Berkeley now has an anti-obesity soda tax and San Francisco does not.
