CHAIR ita oon PORT CHESTER NEW YORK 1573 \GRARIES SUBCOMMTTE February 11,2010 Senator John L. Sampson Democratic Conference Leader New York State 409 Legislative Office Building Albany, NY 1322. ) Dear Ss son, We are writing to express our strong opposition to the proposed tax on sugared beverages. While we applaud efforts to address obesity and to generate revenue in such difficult economic times, levying this tax will not have the desired effects. Rather, it will adversely affect the economic climate and job growth in the state, and, more specifically, in New York City and ‘Westchester County, home to Pepsi-Cola and CCE, a large Coca Cola bottling facility, As you aware, this tax is a newer version of a similar proposal that was in the Executive Budget for the 2009-10 FY, which was rejected by the legislature. This new proposal levies a tax of $7.68 per gallon on syrups and $1.28 per gallon on bottled soft drinks, such as soda, iced tea, fruit drinks, sports drinks as well as many other non-dairy beverages. This proposed tax on soft drinks is nine times of that levied on beer throughout the state. This tax will end up costing jobs and hurting small business throughout the Hudson Valley, and in all areas of the state that border on other states. It will have an especially negative impact in Westchester County in areas that border Connecticut. ‘The higher taxes on soft drinks will result in a price gap between New York State and neighboring states, and will drive consumers to purchase their beverages at out-of-state businesses. This tax will have a major impact on local retail stores. Job losses will also result from this tax proposal, affecting both large and small businesses. The ‘American Beverage Association claims that the industry employs 160,000 statewide. Preliminary analysis reveal that the state will lose upwards of 20,000 jobs due to this tax. Since, according to the NYS Department of Labor, December 2009 marks historically high — oeunemployment levels ~ around 9% for the state, 10.6% in New York City, and 6.9% in Westchester County -- we can ill afford a proposal that will foster further job losses, ‘Westchester County would acutely bear the brunt of this soft drink tax. Pepsi-Cola’s main headquarters is in Purchase. This facility employs thousands of Westchester and lower Hudson Valley residents. Pepsi has been one of New York State’s leading corporate citizens participating in the civic life of our region and the state. Losing Pepsi-Cola to another state would drastically hurt our local economy and increase our unemployment . In addition, CCE, a large Coca Cola bottling facility, operates in Elmsford. Canada Dry and other soft drink companies’also have similar facilities throughout the county and region. The Executive Budget sugar tax on bottled drinks, while well intended, will be detrimental to the economic stability to the Hudson Valley, Westchester County, and New York State. We are especially concerned about the impact on large and small businesses and the likelihood of job loss as a result of this tax. We strongly oppose this tax and a request that our legislative leadership and the Governor remove this proposal from the budget that is eventually adopted. Dp pordermor Sincerely, fheerte-] Largs Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, 37°S.D. ‘Gator Ruth Hassell LA Sp a aT, Senator leffrey Klein, 34" S.D Senator Vincent Leibell, 40" S.D. Dobie, Mood fram Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, 35" S.D.