Junk Food Taxes Proposed in Connecticut, Latino Health a Driving Force

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Law makers in Connecticut have been tossing around the idea of a soda tax for a few years, but nothing concrete has ever made it to the state capital. 2015, however, might be a difference story.

Connecticut state Representative Juan Candelaria has introduced a bill that would impose a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks and also candy. Revenue from the tax would be directed to obesity prevention efforts, a state scholarship program, and local municipalities.

If the bill makes it through the state congress, it will be up for Connecticut voters to decide if they want to use junk food taxes as one solution to diet-related disease.

According to the Suffield Patch, Candelaria told the New Haven Independent that he got the idea for the tax at the National Council of Hispanic State Legislators. He said there was an “epidemic” in minority communities when it came to consumption of sugary drinks and candies.

Update March 9, 2015: The bill, or part of it, passed through Connecticut’s Committee on Children. However, the version of the bill passed does not include the clause to also tax candy. The one cent per ounce tax would only apply to soda with high sugar content. Read more here.