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According to a local newspaper, Santa Fe New Mexican, Mayor Javier Gonzales, who proposed a soda tax policy to support pre-kinder education will speak up about this proposal and more at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center this Wednesday at the annual State of the City address.
Gonzales will speak about the proposal he made to increase an estimated $7 million for funding for pre-k across the city, especially for city’s some 966 3 and 4-year-olds who do not have a pre-k education.
“It has to be that way if we truly want to see a break in this cycle of poverty, a breakdown of the barriers that are stopping our kids in their tracks from achieving their full potential,” Mayor Gonzales told Santa Fe New Mexican News. “It’s just reality of why you need a new revenue source.”
Support for the tax from the Business and Quality of Life Committee came in around February and the public hearing is scheduled for March 8th, according to Albuquerque Journal.
The mayor’s talk will not be exclusively about the soda tax proposal but also will include other issues in the city focused on job creation, health care options and affordable housing, explained Matt Ross city spokesman to Santa Fe New Mexican.
Ensuring equity in education and decreasing access to sugary beverages is a viable effort to create a culture of health and build value around health and education.
Studies show that Latino youth are more exposed to sugary beverages, and consume more sugary beverages than their white peers, making them also at higher risks for diet-related diseases like type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, and heart disease.
Limiting sugary beverages in schools and in communities with pricing disincentives and less access has been shown in research to increase healthy weights among Latino youth.
By The Numbers
74
percent
of Latino kids have had a sugary drink by age 2 (vs. 45% of white kids)
