California Considering Soda Tax

After soda taxes in two California cities failed to pass last November, a soda tax could go straight through to the state. 

KTLA reports that a new soda tax proposition already passed the first hurdle Wednesday (clearing a tax committee) and is now making its way through the state Senate.

If passed into law, the bill SB-622 will add an additional $0.01 tax per ounce to any sweet beverage with more than 25 calories, SFist reports. Sugar-free Red Bulls and Diet Cokes won't count, but Vitaminwater, sports drinks, and we imagine those intense Frappuccinos would all be subject to an additional $0.08 or so.

On the bright side, those extra pennies will all go toward the new Children's Health Promotion Fund, which distributes the money to state and community obesity prevention programs, plus public health programs in California schools. 

And while 76 percent of El Monte, Calif., voters and 67 percent of Richmond, Calif., voted against the soda tax in city elections last November, a recent field poll found that 68 percent of California voters would vote in favor of the soda tax, given that the money paid for nutritional and physical education programs.