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Seattle's sweetened beverage tax passes City Council and heads to mayor

caption: A proposal to tax sugary drinks like soda pop in Seattle passed Monday.
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A proposal to tax sugary drinks like soda pop in Seattle passed Monday.
Flickr Photo/Mike Mozart (CC BY 2.0)/https://flic.kr/p/JwCQyB

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is scheduled to sign off on a new tax for sugary drinks Tuesday. The City Council passed the bill earlier this week.

There was a long applause from supporters after the bill passed.

The legislation calls for a tax of 1.75 cents per ounce on non-diet drinks like soda pop. It would fund health and education programs for children and also go toward food banks, among other things.

But not everyone shared excitement for the bill's passage. People like Jennifer Cue, owner of Seattle-based Jones Soda Company, opposed the legislation at the meeting.

Cue said the tax isn't fair.

"Nor do we think the mayor and City Council have thought through the ramifications of this proposed tax on small businesses like ourselves," she said.

Diet and handcrafted drinks like Frappuccinos from Starbucks are exempt from this tax for now.

The city performed an analysis that said this tax could have disparate impacts on people of color and low-income communities.

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