Big Soda spends through $20 million I-1634 war chest, goes $1.3 million into debt
The fizz seems to have gone out of Big Soda's campaign for Initiative 1634, with filings on spending revealing that it has run through a $20.2 million war chest, and gone $1.3 million in debt.
The filings show the American Beverage Assn. and major soft drink companies have doubled down with about $7 million in recent spending, in a campaign where the opposition Healthy Kids Coalition has raised barely $30,000.
The initiative would prohibit other cities and counties from following Seattle's example and slapping a tax on sugary soft drinks. The beverage industry-financed campaign has come under heavy media criticism for claiming I-1634 would block taxes on "groceries." The state voted in 1977 to take the sales tax off foodstuffs.
Despite a saturation TV campaign -- and almost daily mailings to households -- a recent Elway/Crosscut poll showed the initiative trailing.
https://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Big-Soda-spends-through-20-million-I-1634-war-13352349.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletterspi&utm_term=spi
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Funny how all of the "state's rightists" and anti big government types are now proposing that Olympia dictate what local communities can do.
