Billionaires put pop in advocates' push for soda taxes

NEW YORK -- After years of stamping out soda-tax proposals with well-financed campaigns, Big Soda suddenly is finding itself up against bigger adversaries.

Voters and lawmakers in five municipalities such as San Francisco and the county that includes Chicago approved special taxes on sugary drinks last week, with advocates saying the victories point to a change in public attitudes and the beginnings of a movement.

What's also changed is they're backed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who as mayor of New York lost a bruising fight to limit the size of sugary drinks.

The soda industry dismissed the notion the measures amount to a movement and said the proposals are being pushed in places more likely to pass them.

"It's sort of a pesky thing that comes up now and then," said Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association that represents Coke, Pepsi and others, before the election.

Seven U.S. cities have special, per-ounce taxes on sugary drinks.

All were approved in the past two years and got backing from Bloomberg Philanthropies, as well as from Laura and John Arnold, the latter of whom ran a hedge fund.

Others that passed last week were in Oakland and Albany, California, and Boulder, Colorado.

They follow Berkeley, California, in 2014 and Philadelphia this summer.

Bloomberg Philanthropies said it will help others that come forward.

The long-term effects of such taxes still aren't clear, with studies of recently enacted measures still in progress -- some of them funded by $10.5 million Bloomberg dedicated to such research.

Even if taxes of 1 or 2 cents per ounce hike prices about 10 percent and don't affect how much soda people drink, the industry fears the stigma of being singled out and the potential for the taxes to be increased.

Already, soda consumption has been declining, though other sweetened drinks such as sports beverages and bottled teas have grown, and obesity rates remain high.

Still, some the see taxes as a way to curb at least one bad habit, pointing to cigarette taxes that helped cut smoking rates.

Bloomberg said his philanthropic organization is not orchestrating a national push to tax sodas but providing help when local organizers reach out.

"These are things that we did not start," he said. "They are bottom-up, grassroots campaigns."

Still, his deep pockets are putting advocates on a more even footing.

In Oakland and San Francisco, soda-tax supporters had at least $22 million in campaign contributions this year, largely from Bloomberg and the Arnolds.

Tax opponents had $30 million, reflecting the beverage industry's determination to kill the measure.

Howard Wolfson, a Bloomberg adviser, also provides expertise to tax proponents, including feedback on campaign materials.