http://www.vpr.net/audio/programs/84/2013/02/VTED_0208_2013.mp3
This morning, the house health care committee will begin hearing testimony about the SSB tax. This bill would implement a penny per ounce tax on sodas and sugar-sweetened beverages. Vermonters consume an average of 50 gallons of soda a year per person.
Last year, New York City passed a law restricting sales of large-sized sugary soft drinks, but Denmark abandoned its controversial sugar and fat taxes. Attempts to tax sugar-sweetened beverages in the US have failed in more than 30 states and at the federal level.
We'll talk to Tina Zuk, Government Relations Director for the American Heart Association, and Jim Harrison, President of the Vermont Grocers Association.
Also on the program, we'll have a conversation with Peter Hirschfeld of the Vermont Press Bureau about potential revenue sources lawmakers might use to fill the state's budget gap.
