Group Speaks Out In Opposition To Kenney's Soda Tax
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Larry Ceisler, who represents the Coalition To Stop A Soda Tax, rejected Mayor Jim Kenney's proposal to introduce a tax of three cents per ounce on soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks inside the city of Philadelphia.
During an interview with Rich Zeoli on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, Ceisler said that no other city has instituted a tax on soda that high.
"Three cents is, from our research, and we've been through a lot of these, that is the highest rate that has ever been proposed in the world. There's only one that successfully has passed this, over 40 have defeated it. Berkeley is the one that has passed it and that's only one cent, I believe."
He said he predicted the Mayor would attempt to institute this type of tax when Dr. Thomas Farley was appointed to the new administration.
"The new Health Commissioner of the City of Philadelphia worked for Michael Bloomberg in New York. They tried to put through a tax and then they tried to limit the sizing of drinks. Even in New York, they said you just can't do this nanny state stuff and that is who is Mayor Kenney's Health Commissioner. It's just whether people want to be be able to buy and do what they want to do."
Ceisler insists that even if signed into law, the tax will not have the desired effect.
"When Mayor Nutter first proposed this six years ago, he said if we put a tax on sugar sweetened beverages, less people will drink them and thus, we'll have a healthier city. Well, that's not a correct statement. Will the consumption go down? Will it diminish? Yes it will. But so will that stream of tax revenue. The Mayor can't have it both ways."
