The organization that funded last year’s campaign, that led to the voter approved sugary drink tax, is criticizing Boulder officials for giving CU an exemption on the tax for a year. Healthier Colorado issued a news release yesterday accusing the city of giving preferential treatment.
The statement from Healthier Colorado Executive Director Jake Williams said that “Giving a special tax break to Pepsi violates the spirit and letter of the measure passed by voters,” he implored the city to “rescind this tax break now.”
The 2 cents per ounce tax on sugary drinks goes into effect on July 1st and applies to distributors of most drinks with high levels of added sugar, particularly soda. But distributors are likely to pass that cost down to consumers.
CU had asked the city council for an exemption in the tax saying it would cost the university an extra $1 million a year. The city council granted a one year exemption.
Organizations across the state are gearing up to have their budgets reduced or in some cases completely eliminated under the proposed budget put forward this week by Donald Trump. His budget slashes funding for public education, for programs that help people with disabilities and zeros out federal funding for public broadcasting.
It also calls for the elimination of entire programs, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provides funding to museums and libraries across the country and supplements local, State, and private funds, which provide the vast majority of funding to museums and libraries. David Farnan, the Director of the Boulder Public Library says that though the Boulder library will largely be unaffected as it has not applied for federal funds in recent years, he is concerned about the impact on rural libraries across Colorado.
Mayors from metro area cities joined with business leaders and members of the non profit sector to discuss Gender Equity in Colorado at a summit in Denver yesterday.
It’s Time Network is co-hosted the summit with the Denver Office on Women & Families. At yesterday’s summit, it was announced that Denver will be a pilot city for a national program to protect and advance the rights of women and girls. It’s Time Network Founder and CEO Betsy McKinney says that several policy suggestions emerged from yesterday’s summit including a recommendation to create more flexibility in working hours and an expansion of family leave policies.
