Senate Panel Kills Plan to Phase Out School Soda Sales

Senate lawmakers Tuesday killed a bill that would have phased out the sale of soda in public schools to help improve nutrition among students.

On a 6-1 vote, the bill, SB 1520 by Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento), failed to get the eight votes needed to clear the Senate Education Committee.

Ortiz said she was disappointed that three of her Democratic counterparts on the committee chose not to vote on the measure, which had garnered strong opposition from the soda industry.

“I think it lacks political courage,” Ortiz said. “It’s really bad for us to be supporting, let alone encouraging, sodas in school.”

The measure sought to phase out soda sales during school hours over five years.

Earlier this month Ortiz abandoned her plan to raise taxes on soda to help fight childhood obesity after the proposal came under fire from the state’s business community and conservative lawmakers.

Ortiz said she has no plans, however, to drop her fight to improve nutrition among California’s youth and will introduce related legislation next year. The state’s schoolchildren, she contends, consume more soda than water or milk, and one-third are overweight or obese.