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The Big Gulp: Voters Reject Soda Tax in El Monte
Photo by Aleph Studio/Shutterstock
This might give several thousand El Monte residents a reason to do a victory dance like their city's own "Gangnam Style" lifeguards: A proposed tax on soda and sugary beverages has been soundly rejected by voters.
The proposed tax, Measure H on the El Monte ballot, would have imposed a $.01 tax on every fluid ounce of sugar-sweetened beverages sold in El Monte.
Supporters believed the tax would not only help the city's fiscal crisis by drawing in up to $7 million in revenue, but also curb the city's soda-slurping tendencies, which would help the health crisis of obesity rates and obesity-related diseases, like diabetes.
Detractors called Measure H a "money grab" and asserted that taxes don't actually make people healthier. Also hating on the idea: The beverage industry, "which spent more than $1 million to defeat it," points out KTLA.
At the polls Tuesday, over 76% of voters said "no" to Measure H.
lavote.net
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