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Beverage Industry Lobby Defeats Soda Taxes After Initial Setback

After Washington state passed a tax on soda and other sugary beverages in April, beverage industry lobbyists got their act together and have quashed efforts in several other states to pass a similar tax this year, Joey Peters reports. Not only have bills in Mississippi, New Mexico and New York state gone nowhere, an industry-funded initiative to repeal the Washington tax looks likes it has gained more than enough signatures to go before voters in November.

The tactics vary from state to state but the overall message is "don't lay the blame for obesity solely on soda." Washington state Rep. Eileen Cody, who chairs the House health care committee, is among lawmakers who were nervous about provoking exactly what has occurred: a strongly financed campaign against the tax, Peters writes. The American Beverage Association reportedly spent more than $1 million to get the initiative on the ballot in Washington and a spokesman for the coalition of children's health groups who pushed the soda tax expects the industry to pour as much as $10 million into pushing for repeal.

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