Back in March, a statewide initiative that would ban cities and counties in Washington from placing taxes on soda and other sugary drinks was proposed and the idea quickly started to build momentum. The original announcement of this plan to prevent local governments from imposing these kinds of taxes came just a few months after a soda tax officially went into effect in Seattle. Now, it is being reported that Initiative 1634 will likely appear on the November ballot.
Earlier this week, MyNorthwest reported that “organizers behind Initiative 1634, which would bar local governments from imposing taxes on sweetened beverages, delivered 291,000 signatures to the secretary of state’s office on Thursday in hopes of making the November ballot. The Spokesman Review reports another 60,000 signatures are expected Friday afternoon.”
Ever since the soda tax in Seattle was rolled out, shoppers have been shocked to see how much the sugary drink tax has actually changed the price of their favorite drinks in the city. Back in January, a photo that was being circulated on social media from a Seattle Costco showed that a case of Gatorade that originally cost $15.99 now costs $26.33, an increase of $10.34 because of the new tax.
After Seattle passed the tax on sugary drinks, many citizens across Washington were concerned that their cities and counties would start imposing similar taxes. Thankfully, Washingtonians will likely get the chance to vote on an initiative in November that would prevent other cities from enacting similar taxes. Businesses and citizens across Washington are joining together to prevent sugary drink taxes from being imposed in their communities after seeing the impact that the tax is having on consumers in Seattle.