California lawmaker introduces soda tax bill

* California lawmaker introduces soda tax legislation

* Levy on beverage distributors could raise $1.5 bln/yr

* Proceeds would fund childhood obesity prevention efforts

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES, Feb 18 (Reuters) - California lawmaker Dean Florez introduced legislation on Thursday to tax sodas and other sugar-sweetened drinks, using the proceeds to bankroll programs to fight childhood obesity.

The bill, introduced by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez, would slap a 1-cent levy on every teaspoon of added sugar in commercial beverages sold.

Initial projections from the California Center for Public Health Advocacy estimated the excise tax on beverage distributors could raise $1.5 billion a year, with funds going directly to cities and schools to pay for childhood obesity prevention programs throughout the state.

California has been a pioneer of public health initiatives -- it was the first state to pass menu-labeling rules, and implemented bans on artery-clogging trans-fats in restaurants and on soda sales in public schools.

New York Gov. David Patterson, also a Democrat, for the second year in a row has proposed taxing sugary soft drinks.

But the beverage industry and its allies have strongly, and thus far successfully, opposed efforts to tax soda.

Critics of soda taxes say they demonize one industry, hurt business, threaten an already weak economy and place an unfair burden on low-income shoppers.

Obesity rates are soaring among U.S. children, along with rates of early heart disease, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. Nearly a third of U.S. children currently are obese or overweight and likely to stay that way for their entire lives.

Obesity-related diseases account for nearly 10 percent of all medical spending in the United States, or an estimated $147 billion annually.

That's why health experts increasingly are calling for taxes on soft drinks and other sweetened beverages to offset medical costs and fund public health efforts. [ID:nN16158491]

A soda tax was considered as an option to help pay for U.S. health care reform, but was quickly dropped as an option. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)