Quick Take
Measure Z is a regressive tax that targets working people, writes Jeffrey Smedberg, a Bernie Sanders supporter who helped found Santa Cruz for Bernie. He thinks the city council was hypocritical for putting the measure on the ballot and that the real goal is revenue for the general fund.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.
Measure Z, Santa Cruz’s proposed tax on sodas, kombucha teas, energy drinks, coconut water and more, is marketed as a public health measure. But let’s call it what it is: a regressive tax that unfairly targets working people while failing to deliver on its health promises. Measure Z would hit our most vulnerable families hardest, squeezing those who already bear the brunt of rising costs and limited access to resources. For a city that prides itself on progressive values, this tax is a step in the wrong direction.
ELECTION DAY NOV. 5
I helped found Santa Cruz for Bernie years ago to unite progressives around social justice and people-first policies. Progressives stand against laws that unfairly burden the poor and most vulnerable — Bernie Sanders’ mission for decades, and mine as well. Measure Z is a regressive tax that hits lower-income and working-class families the hardest, while doing nothing to reduce health or economic disparities in our community. The Santa Cruz we love is a place where everyone should have the opportunity to thrive, yet Measure Z would move us in the opposite direction.
The city council, which put Measure Z on the ballot, hypocritically promotes it as a health initiative. Because proceeds from the tax go into the general fund, the council could just as easily spend this money on administrative salary raises as on parks. There is no commitment to health education.
In Berkeley, the first city to adopt a soda tax, soda consumption has decreased — not due to higher beverage prices, but because the city dedicated all the proceeds to a robust public health education effort. In Santa Cruz, the true purpose of this tax is to increase city revenue, something the council could accomplish more fairly with a real estate transfer tax — taking a bit from those who have plenty — rather than a regressive tax on groceries.
NOVEMBER BALLOT MEASURES: Find Lookout’s local and state coverage here
It’s no surprise that labor unions — including the Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers — are standing with us against Measure Z. They know that taxes like these hurt workers by raising grocery costs and squeezing local businesses, making it even harder for families to make ends meet.
When grocery costs rise, families and small businesses suffer. A tax on our groceries is a tax on working families, on the very people who make our community thrive.
In a time when the wealthiest among us continue to benefit from massive tax breaks and a rigged financial system, it’s unfair and unjust to ask those with the least to give even more. Measure Z is not only bad policy; it is the wrong direction for a progressive Santa Cruz. Join me and Santa Cruz progressives in voting no on Measure Z. Let’s protect our working families and support solutions that lift up all Santa Cruzans.
Jeffrey Smedberg is a longtime Santa Cruz resident and cofounder of Santa Cruz for Bernie.