About sixty days remain until the November 2018 general election concludes. Ballots for overseas and military voters will be mailed this month. Ballots for all other voters will be mailed in mid-October.
There are five statewide measures on the Washington ballot this year. One of them is Initiative 1634, which is a proposed law bought and paid for by giant soda companies, notably Coca-Cola and Pepsi. These companies have dumped $8 million into a campaign to sell this initiative to Washington voters because they don’t want cities and counties to be able to raise money for public health by taxing sugary beverages like soda.
We know that consumption of sugary beverages has negative public and individual health outcomes. That’s why Seattle created its sugary beverages tax. Now, the soda industry wants to stop other communities from following in Seattle’s footsteps. There is no reason why this self-serving initiative should be added to our body of laws. Greed should not be the basis for public policy. We urge you to vote NO on Big Soda’s I-1634 this autumn and let Washington communities make their own public health decisions.
On this website, you’ll find useful information about I-1634, including the explanatory statement, fiscal impact statement, voter’s pamphlet arguments in opposition to the measure, and campaign finance data. We will be adding more resources as the election approaches, so check back often!