Students with a Coca-Cola addiction might have to start paying more to feed their fix—21 cents more, to be precise.
A bill circulating in the state Legislature would put an excise tax on all soft drinks sold in Wisconsin and a $2 a gallon tax on soft drink syrup sold in the state.
All money collected from the tax would be deposited into a dental access trust fund to reimburse dentists who provide care to patients under the Medical Assistance Program. The fund would also assist in public dental education programs run by the Department of Health and Family Services.
""An extra 21 cents is way too much. If soda is obnoxiously overpriced, I'll buy more juice,"" said UW-Madison freshman Pat Moriarty.
Moriarty said though he is not a chronic soft drink consumer, he thinks the bill might put a financial burden on students craving a caffine fix.
If students consume one soft drink per day, they would be forced to pay an extra $76 a year for their habit.
But lead sponsor, state Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona Grove, said the bill would cost only people in Wisconsin an average of $10 a year.
Miller added that the bill addresses the problems some people in the state face when seeking dental care.
""We're having a very hard time finding dentists who will provide the basic dental care at the prices that Medicaid provides. This would provide a supplement to that,"" Miller said.
He said the bill is part of a response to requests made by the Wisconsin Dental Association and is backed by many dentists.
State Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, declined to co-sponsor the bill with Miller. Kapanke's concern with the bill is whether the money appropriated from the tax would actually funnel into the intended areas. He would prefer to draw money from the $51 billion state budget to fund dental programs rather than create another state tax.
The introduction of the soft drink tax bill comes only months after Gov. Jim Doyle's proposal for a statewide cigarette tax.
Miller said the bill does have bipartisan support, though it is too early to tell if enough Republicans will cross the aisle to make the bill law. Two Republican representatives have joined sixteen Democrats in co-sponsoring the bill.
If passed, Wisconsinites can expect higher prices at vending machines as early as the end of this year.
