Posted on 05/03/2017 8:39:58 AM PDT by CedarDave
SANTA FE – A national trend in favor of so-called “soda tax” initiatives took a hit Tuesday when Santa Fe voters soundly rejected a proposed 2-cents-per-ounce tax on the distributors of sugar-sweetened beverages in a special election unlike anything New Mexico’s capital city has seen before.
Santa Fe’s 2-cents-per-ounce proposal would have matched Boulder, Colo., as the highest in the nation and was aimed at financing an effort to make 1,000 pre-kindergarten education slots available to Santa Fe children for free or at affordable rates.
The campaign drew intense interest locally and money poured in from outside the state, with nearly $3.3 million spent for and against the tax. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City, helped counteract the soda industry’s dollars by providing more than $1 million in support of the pro-tax effort.
A record 37.6 percent of registered voters turned out for the election – more than the hotly contested 2014 three-way race for mayor won by Javier Gonzales, who proposed the tax – and 58 percent voted “no.”
The final tally was 11,533 against the soda tax and 8,382 in favor. Voters in the city’s middle- and lower-income neighborhoods went against the tax in huge numbers, while the vote in Santa Fe’s affluent north and east sides split almost precisely 50-50.
The split between Santa Fe’s neighborhoods showed up in the voting. The south side’s lower-income, more Hispanic District 3 voted 1,719 to 649 against the tax. The vote in mid-city District 4 was the most significant – 3,694 against to 1,628 in favor.
The high-end, northeast District 1 was the only district to go for the tax, but barely – 3,203 for to 3,187 against. Neighboring District 2 narrowly rejected the tax 2,933 against to 2,902 for.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
Sorry. Missed the /s
Bloomberg is having a bad year in New Mexico. First we stopped the ridiculous “background check” legislation regarding guns, and now this. I’ve heard between the two he sunk over a million bucks into the effort.
Hey Bloomie... for once this quote is for the better....
“Every calculation based on experience elsewhere fails in New Mexico.” –Lew Wallace
Bloomberg never heard of mañana in New Mexico.
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