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Paterson's "Obesity Tax" Would Raise Price of Pop
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 15, 2008
Modified Dec 15, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 15, 2008
Modified Dec 15, 2008
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As part of his desperate effort to close an estimated $15 billion budget deficit this year and next, Governor Paterson is proposing, among other things, a tax on roughly 15% of non-diet soft drinks, the Daily News reports. On Tuesday Paterson will officially announce his $121 billion budget, which emphasizes broad cuts in education and Medicaid. "I expect it to be an unmitigated disaster for health care institutions in New York," Kenneth Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, tells the Times. The obesity tax would raise some $404 million a year, but the state shouldn't expect any revenue boost from teens like Amaury Garcia, 16, who works at a flower shop in Penn Station. She tells the News the tax would simply drive her to abstinence: "I don't like to buy Diet Coke. I'll just not buy any sodas if it goes up."
Tagged
budget
new york
obesity tax
paterson
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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