Taxation: sweetened beverages: Pediatric Obesity Fund.

Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill would impose a tax on every distributor, as defined, at the rate of one cent ($0.01) per teaspoon of added caloric sweetener in the bottled sweetened beverage or concentrate sold or offered for sale to a retailer in this state, and on a retailer who sells bottled sweetened beverages or concentrate in this state to consumers on which the tax has not been paid by a distributor. This bill would exempt from the tax the sale, use, or consumption in this state of bottled sweetened beverages or concentrate that the state is prohibited from taxing, as provided. The tax would be administered by the State Board of Equalization and would be collected pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require the board to deposit all taxes, penalties, and interest collected, less refund and administrative costs, in the Pediatric Obesity Fund, which this bill would create. This bill would require all moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the State Department of Education for distribution of grants to eligible school districts for the purpose of employing a school nurse or health educator and creating a healthful diet and lifestyle plan for the school. This bill would require the Director of Finance to transfer, an unspecified amount from the General Fund to the board, to implement the collection of the taxes imposed by this act, and would require that amount to be repaid by the board with interest from the taxes collected. Because this bill would expand the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the consumption of sweetened beverages and obesity. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.