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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Extra Fizz: Gov Disappointed in Soda Tax Repeal

2010 Election, This Washington   November 3, 2010 at 10:09 am Josh Feit

Washington voters decided 63 to 37 last night to repeal the taxes on soda, candy, and bottled water the legislature passed last session. The taxes (temporary on soda) would have raised about $96 million this biennium. It was on piece of the legislature’s fix the $12 billion revenue shortfall they face over the last two session.

The governor released a statement on the vote this morning, addressing the soda and candy tax.

“There’s no doubt I’m disappointed that voters decided to repeal the temporary sales tax recently imposed on soda and candy. We are currently closing a $520 million budget gap and going into the next biennium we face at least a $4.5 billion shortfall. The additional cuts we will have to make due to this loss of revenue will have significant consequences.

“I am committed to transforming the budget as Washington moves forward. We know we can no longer afford many of the programs and services that Washingtonians rely on. I look forward to working with elected leaders of both parties, as well as the public, on finding solutions to our budget crisis.”

She also included stats on how much the repeal will cost the state each year:$55 million in the current biennium, $217 million next biennium, and $80 million in the biennium after that.




  • Livnah

    Had the law been written better to begin with, and perhaps even been a ballot measure rather than just a, “oh, hey, let’s write something that makes no sense while we’re in this whole budget panic, and then waste lots of money fighting to keep the law in place once the peeps find out how stupidly the definition of a candy is”, perhaps it wouldn’t have been repealed in a near-landslide?

  • http://twitter.com/fattailed fattailed

    The definition of candy was taken from the rules set by the multi-state streamlined sales tax project. The streamlined sales tax project is the result of business lobbying for clean definitions good across state lines to make programming their cash registers easier.

    If candy had been defined differently, that would have been the target of the ad — all the expense of small business having to screw around with their cash registers.

    The real issue is that the soda industry is determined to not become the next target of sin taxes, and they’re willing to pay to prevent it.

  • http://twitter.com/platypusrex256 Joshua Guerci

    the soda tax was so burguesia. you might as well raise a tax on poor people.

  • Sigh

    Perhaps not trying to slip an excise tax on producers/processors of “real food” that takes effect about the time the sales tax on soda expires was a bad idea. Ya think?

    I was all set to keep the sales tax in place (and even make it permanent) until upon reading the law and supporting explanatory statements I learned that meat processors and those who process/prepare frozen and canned foods (you know fruit and vegetables–even those with just pure fruit/vegetable without any additional sugars, preservatives or other additives) would get an excise tax on those products added in 2012.

    That sealed my vote on the initiative.

  • j-lee

    Hey do you hear that? It’s the worlds smallest violin playing for the poor, poor completely-on-their-own-and-not-at-all-subsidized-well-beyond-necessity meat processors.

    No offense, but so what if a can of Spam is an extra 20 cents?

  • Gomez

    I want you to walk into a food bank or a Grocery Outlet and say that last sentence out loud.

  • Sigh

    Maybe…but how about the pound of ground beef…the package of frozen peas or frozen fruit.

    J-lee…have you been down on your luck? Depending on the kindness of others and the existence of foodbanks to feed you and yours? Adding a tax to real food items will be passed on to the consumer. This WILL reduce their buying power. Sad, but true. This will result in less donation to food banks and less buying power for the food banks as well.

    Washington has exempted food from sales taxes for a reason, and I would imagine processors were exempted from the excise tax for the same reason.

  • JGT3

    I didn’t see that as an attempt to slip in additional taxes on “real” food – it was just a clarification that canned meat products like Chili, which have been paying a lower B&O Tax Rate due to a loophole in previously written legislation which allows meat packagers a lower B&O Tax Rate, should not be allowed that lower B&O Tax rate.

  • JGT3

    Soda is not necessary to the human diet… If you’re poor you probably shouldn’t be buying it anyway?