Tagged: Sugar Sweetened Beverages

A prominent Vermont economist is warning that a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages will send more Vermonters out of state to shop.

Art Woolf of Northern Economic Consulting told the House Health Care Committee on Wednesday that retail activity on the Vermont and New Hampshire sides of the Connecticut River was even in 1969, when Vermont first instituted a sales tax.

A coalition of groups is again calling on Vermont’s leaders to impose a tax on  sugar sweetened beverages to combat obesity.        

The Alliance for a Healthier Vermont is once again proposing that the state impose a one cent per ounce tax on sugar sweetened beverages. The Alliance has failed to get such a measure through the Legislature in past sessions.  American Heart Association Vermont Government Relations Director Tina Zuk says formal legislation will be introduced next week.