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 A group of Illinois Democratic
lawmakers are taking on Cook County’s soda tax. A bill filed in the House of
Representatives Aug. 15 marks the second proposal in the Illinois General
Assembly to do away with Cook County’s sweetened beverage tax.
House Bill 4083 would ban any home rule county or non-home rule county from
taxing the use, sale or purchase of sweetened beverages by weight or volume. HB
4083 would also nullify the controversial Cook County sweetened beverage tax
that’s already in effect.
 State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, filed the bill and serves as its
primary sponsor. Momentum for HB 4083 grew after its first reading, gaining
bipartisan support. State Reps. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside; Martin Moylan, D-Des
Plaines; and David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, have been made chief
co-sponsors. The bill’s co-sponsors include: state Reps. Jaime Andrade Jr.,
D-Chicago; Kelly Burke, D-Evergreen Park; Will Davis, D-Homewood; Thaddeus
Jones, D-Calumet City; Silvana Tabares, D-Chicago; Kathleen Willis, D-Addison;
Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora; Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside; Fred Crespo,
D-Hoffman Estates; Sue Scherer, D-Decatur; Cynthia Soto, D-Chicago; David Olsen,
R-Downers Grove; Allen Skillicorn, R-East Dundee; and Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan.
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Mussman and most of the
bill’s co-sponsors represent districts in Cook County.
Mussman’s bill is
similar to a Republican proposal that was filed the same day as HB
4083. House Bill 4082, filed by state Rep. Michael McAuliffe,
R-Chicago, would ban home rule counties from taxing sweetened
beverages by volume. But unlike Mussman’s proposal, HB 4082 does not
stop non-home rule counties from taxing sweetened beverages by
volume. HB 4082 also does not explicitly mention weight in its
language.
Democrats at the county level are also going after the tax. Cook
County Commissioners John Fritchey, D-12th District; Richard Boykin,
D-1st District; and Jeffrey R. Tobolski, D-16th District, have
co-sponsored a proposal filed by Commissioner Sean Morrison, R-17th
District, to repeal the sweetened beverage tax.
Mussman’s proposal is understandable, as Cook County’s sweetened
beverage tax is wildly unpopular. A poll commissioned by the
Illinois Manufacturers’ Association shows 87 percent of likely
voters disapprove of the sweetened beverage tax, and 80 percent of
respondents believe the tax was imposed to raise revenue and not to
improve public health.
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