The newest locality to approve a tax on sugary beverages is also the largest — Cook County, home to 5.2 million people including the city of Chicago. The Cook County Board approved the 1-cent-per-ounce tax on a 9-8 vote with board president Toni Preckwinkle breaking a tie, said the Chicago Tribune.
The vote by county commissioners followed landslide victories on Tuesday in four city referendums in San Francisco, Oakland and Albany, Calif., and Boulder, Colo. “This is a major victory for American public health — and a very encouraging sign of things to come,” said former New York mayor Micheal Bloomberg, who donated millions to the soda-tax drive, reported Crain’s Chicago Business. “We anticipate many other cities will pursue soda taxes in the months ahead.”
In the city referendums, soda taxes were presented as a step against the obesity epidemic and associated chronic diseases — the same argument used when Berkeley, Calif. became the first city, in 2014, to approve a tax. The Philadelphia City Council approved a 1.5-cent tax in June as a way to pay for pre-kindergarten for all children in the city.
Preckwinkle offered the soda tax was a way to help close a budget deficit and prevent the layoff of law enforcement personnel. Along with the soda tax, the board passed an ordinance against increases in sales and property taxes beyond the rate of inflation for three years, said the Tribune. The new soda tax applies to bottled and fountain sales.
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association hinted a lawsuit against the tax was in the works, said the newspaper. The tax is scheduled to take effect on July 1.