On January 1, Seattle had several new progressive laws go into effect. Along with mandatory paid sick leave, mandates for employers to post work schedules 14 days in advance, and severe restrictions on short-term rental platforms (Airbnb, VRBO, etc.), Seattle imposed a massive new soda tax — 1.75 cents per OUNCE on sugary drinks.That would be Costco, a company based in Issaquah, WA, a suburb of Seattle. And their signs couldn't be more direct:
In response, at least one major retailer advertised in detail the reason for the significant increase in prices.
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| Go buy it someplace else |
Costco would like to sell the Gatorade to you, but they aren't necessarily interested in collecting the tax for Seattle. So they are suggesting to their customers that they buy such beverages in the suburbs. If you are inclined to buy your beverages in bulk, and that's how Costco rolls, it makes perfect sense to point your customers elsewhere.
Of course, the politicians don't like that:
Soda-tax supporters in Washington state are trying to pass a statewide levy to prevent shoppers from getting around it, but it failed to pass in 2017 and is unlikely to do so this year, either.This will be worth watching.
2 comments:
The next step is to ban such signs as "hate speech".
What RA says.
But that noted, I once estimated that the approximate subsidy for sweetened drinks due to corn subsidies (and cheaper corn syrup than sugar) at about a nickel to a dime per can, depending on how things are marked up. Not too far from the 20 cents per can Seattle is charging, really.
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