WEBVTT - Bloomberg BNA's Gibson on Philadelphia Passing Soda Tax (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Taking Stock with Kathleen Hayes and Pim

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<v Speaker 1>Box on Bloomberg Radio, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and

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<v Speaker 1>of course the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art,

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<v Speaker 1>all immortalized by Sylvester Stallone. Now add to it, Philadelphia

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<v Speaker 1>has become the first major US city to enact a

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<v Speaker 1>soda tax, the city Council approving a one and a

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<v Speaker 1>half cents per ounce levy on sugary and artificially sweetened beverages.

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<v Speaker 1>Here to tell us more is Annabelle Gibson, Managing Editor,

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg b an A, a wholly owned subsidiary subsidiary of

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Gets, a leading source of legal, regulatory and business

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<v Speaker 1>information for professionals. Annabelle, thank you very much for being

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<v Speaker 1>with us. Thank you for having me tell us about

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<v Speaker 1>this soda tax and some of the issues surrounding this tax. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>Philadelphia's tax is want to have sense per fluid ounce.

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<v Speaker 1>And that doesn't sound like a lot because it's just

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<v Speaker 1>you know, an extra little penny and a half. But

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<v Speaker 1>when you added up determining how many ounces are per

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<v Speaker 1>leader or per can, that's actually a whole extra dollar

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<v Speaker 1>of tax per two leader bottle or even over two

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<v Speaker 1>dollars in tax for those twelve packs of sodas that

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<v Speaker 1>you buy in your grocery store, convenience store, or wherever.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's a lot of money for cities and states

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<v Speaker 1>to generate revenue. And Philadelphia is actually estimating that they're

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<v Speaker 1>going to be able to raise million dollars in revenue

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<v Speaker 1>in the first year just from this one and a

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<v Speaker 1>half cent tax that's going to start in well, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's been something people been trying to do for a while,

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<v Speaker 1>right to get these soda tax enacted. And of course

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<v Speaker 1>that rats revenues for states and cities. It also may

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<v Speaker 1>over time reduce some costs for healthcare for medical care

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<v Speaker 1>because if people drink fewer sugary sodas, there's all kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of conditions they will not tend to develop as much,

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<v Speaker 1>things like diabetes for example. Yeah. Um. And actually, cities

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<v Speaker 1>and some states have been trying to do this for

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<v Speaker 1>several years now. There have been at least forty attempts

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<v Speaker 1>or so since about two thousand nine of cities who

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<v Speaker 1>have tried to have very similar taxes to this of

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<v Speaker 1>one sense per ounce or two cents perouns and previously

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<v Speaker 1>most um jurisdictions have attempted to tout these as ways

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<v Speaker 1>to lower healthcare costs because they deter people from buying

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<v Speaker 1>all these sugary beverages because they're less healthy options. So

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<v Speaker 1>the ideas make them more expensive, very much like other

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<v Speaker 1>syntaxes like products on alcohol and tobacco war. They're made

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<v Speaker 1>to be more expensive and less people will buy them.

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<v Speaker 1>And Philadelphia took an interesting route is instead of really saying, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>this is simply for a healthcare measure, they really supported

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<v Speaker 1>it and proposed it to be a way to generate

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<v Speaker 1>the revenue. So it really went an interesting route, and

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<v Speaker 1>other cities may try to do the same thing. Now

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<v Speaker 1>since Philadelphia has been successful, and about what has been

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<v Speaker 1>the the result of soft drink taxes in Arkansas and

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<v Speaker 1>West Virginia, what have we learned? Well, Arkansas and West

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<v Speaker 1>Virginia have taxes that are kind of similar, but they're

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<v Speaker 1>actually a lot less when you look at the dollar amount.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't have how much revenue they raise, but Arkansas

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<v Speaker 1>tax is only one cents per gallon for bottle drinks,

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<v Speaker 1>so that's actually only about a tenth of a cent

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<v Speaker 1>per ounce, so it's a lot less and West Virginia's

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<v Speaker 1>tax is even less than that that. It's only one

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<v Speaker 1>cent per sixteen point nine ounces as about a half

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<v Speaker 1>a leader, so it's you know, point zero zero six

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<v Speaker 1>cents per ounce, so it's a very little. They are

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<v Speaker 1>definitely not the revenue generators. Even though they're for large

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<v Speaker 1>states they can make some money. But Philadelphia it's is

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<v Speaker 1>actually a higher tax rate. And Gibson, thank you so

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<v Speaker 1>very much for joining managing editor at Bloomberg b NA,

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<v Speaker 1>joining us from Arlington, Virginia to talk about the soda

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<v Speaker 1>tax attax on shore sweet and drinks that Philadelphia just

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<v Speaker 1>successful be passed