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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, A proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to | ||||||
3 | generate revenue to balance the State's
budget has been | ||||||
4 | contemplated by some policymakers; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Adding an additional tax on sugar-sweetened | ||||||
6 | beverages will raise grocery costs for Illinois
hardworking | ||||||
7 | families and kill Illinois jobs; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Studies have concluded that any obesity-related | ||||||
9 | benefit of decreased sugar-sweetened
beverage consumption that | ||||||
10 | comes from a tax is negligible or offset by individual | ||||||
11 | circumstances and
environments; for instance, West Virginia | ||||||
12 | has had a sugar-sweetened beverage tax since 1951 and has
the | ||||||
13 | second highest obesity rate in the United States at 35.6%; | ||||||
14 | since 1990, the diabetes rate in West
Virginia has more than | ||||||
15 | doubled from 6.7% to 14.5%; Arkansas has had a sugar-sweetened
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16 | beverage tax since 1992; during this time, obesity rates have | ||||||
17 | doubled from 17% to 34.5%, ranking it the
sixth-highest rate in | ||||||
18 | the United States; additionally, the diabetes rate has doubled | ||||||
19 | from 5.8% to 12.6%; and | ||||||
20 | WHEREAS, If the sugar-sweetened beverage tax will reduce | ||||||
21 | consumption as the advocates claim, then it
will in turn | ||||||
22 | negatively impact bottlers, manufacturers, agricultural |
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1 | suppliers, distributors, retailers, and
labor; with more than | ||||||
2 | 100,000 Illinois residents directly and indirectly employed by | ||||||
3 | the beverage
industry, the vast beverage industry could face | ||||||
4 | layoffs if the sugar-sweetened beverage tax is signed
into law; | ||||||
5 | and | ||||||
6 | WHEREAS, Beverage-related jobs create $654 million in | ||||||
7 | wages in Illinois, with an additional $702 million
in wages for | ||||||
8 | occupations that rely on beverage sales; passing this soda | ||||||
9 | beverage tax would decrease
sales resulting in a decrease in | ||||||
10 | local and State revenue at a time when governments across | ||||||
11 | Illinois are
facing declining revenue; and
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12 | WHEREAS, A soda tax will provide additional incentive to | ||||||
13 | the two-thirds of Illinois residents who live within a
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14 | 40-minute drive of a neighboring state to shop in that | ||||||
15 | neighboring state and therefore further weaken
tax receipts and | ||||||
16 | cripple local businesses; specifically, Illinois retailers | ||||||
17 | which border other states will be
put at an even greater | ||||||
18 | competitive disadvantage with out-of-state retailers; and
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19 | WHEREAS, A recent proposal would impose an unreasonable new | ||||||
20 | State
penny-per-ounce tax that would result in 68 cents in new | ||||||
21 | taxes on a
typical 99-cent, two-liter bottle of soda; and
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22 | WHEREAS, An additional tax on sugar-sweetened beverages |
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1 | goes against the pro-business, pro-jobs,
pro-growth policies | ||||||
2 | that should be under careful consideration as Illinois seeks to | ||||||
3 | regain sound financial
footing; therefore, be it
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4 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
5 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
6 | fully support our hardworking citizens and oppose all efforts, | ||||||
7 | on the State or local
level, to impose new taxes on beverages | ||||||
8 | and food; and be it further
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9 | RESOLVED, That we state our firm opposition to any | ||||||
10 | additional taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages.
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