KIRO 7 News,
Graham Johnson,
September 3, 2018-
At a Labor Day event in Burien, union leaders stumped for Initiative 1634, which would block Seattle-style soda taxes. “It supports affordable groceries,” said Nicole Grant of the Martin Luther King, Jr. County Labor Council. I-1634 leaves Seattle’s controversial sugary beverage tax alone but would prevent other Washington cities and counties from passing similar taxes. “These types of taxes hurt communities of color, poor working families the most, and it’s got to stop,” said Pete Lamb of Teamsters Local 174.
I-1634 is bankrolled by the soda industry. The latest campaign finance report shows the yes campaign got $3.8 million dollars from Coca-Cola, $2.9 million from Pepsi and $1.2 million from Keurig Dr. Pepper, with total contributions of $8 million. By contrast, the no campaign so far lists contributions of $250 from a single donor, Victor Colman. “We have a David versus Goliath battle ahead of us,” Colman said. “We’re not going to be raising $8 million, to be sure. But we feel we have a very honest and truthful message about local control.”