NYC –  Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg wants Albany to get back to work on the state budget, and today called for a one cent an ounce tax on soda during his weekly radio address, which aired this morning on 1010 WINS News Radio.

Noting that “Albany has been in the news a lot in recent days – for distressing reasons. In the process, key issues have fallen off State government’s radar screen” Bloomberg called on the legislature to get back to work – immediately. The mayor said that includes closing a looming, $1.9 billion gap in funding for healthcare for the poor, and a $1.4 billion gap in state education aid that threatens big setbacks for our children’s schools and said that a fast and easy way to do so would be to enact a one cent per ounce tax on beverages with high sugar content, which he says would not only help to bridge a huge budget gap, but also help to fight obesity.

“Today, I’m urging Albany to take one simple step to avert this crisis: Setting a penny-per-ounce tax on heavily sweetened sodas and beverages, and dedicating the revenue to education and Medicaid,” said Bloomberg. “An extra 12 cents on a can of soda would raise nearly $1 billion, allowing us to keep community health services open and teachers in the classroom.  And, at the same time, it would help us fight a major problem plaguing our children: obesity.

This is by no means the first time Bloomberg has gone after foods he felt were unhealthy. Since the mayor took office in 2002, New York City has become a recognized leader in improving public health because we’ve focused on solutions that work: reducing smoking, discouraging use of trans-fats, requiring calorie-labeling in restaurants, and working with food companies to reduce the amount of sodium in their products.

“High sugar intake from drinking sodas and other sweetened drinks is another growing health problem. Think about this: Lots of people put a teaspoon or two of sugar in their coffee.  But a 12-ounce can of soda averages 10 teaspoons of sugar,” added Bloomberg.

“In these tough economic times, easy fixes to our problems are hard to come by,” said Bloomberg.  “But the soda tax is a fix that just makes sense. It would save lives. It would cut rising health care costs.  And it would keep thousands of teachers and nurses where they belong: In the classrooms and clinics.”

(Source: http://www.examiner.com/)