Berkeley soda tax and Maui GE limits win, GMO labels lose
Voters in Berkeley, Calif, approved the nation's first municipal soda tax and Maui County, Hawaii, passed an initiative that bars cultivation of genetically engineered crops during Tuesday's general elections. Statewide referendums in Oregon and California to require labels of food made with genetically modified organisms were defeated.
Opponents spend $9 million to defeat soda tax referendums
A combined $9.1 is being spent to defeat referendums in Berkeley and San Francisco on taxing sugar-sweetened beverages, 18 times more than the $489,000 proponents have gathered, according to published reports.