D’Amico Applauds Beverage Tax Repeal by Cook County Board

CHICAGO – State Rep. John D’Amico, D-Chicago, issued the following statement on Wednesday after the repeal of the Cook County Beverage Tax by the Cook County Board.

“Today was a victory for middle-class families and small-business owners. It was a loss for insiders and lobbyists that wanted to increase taxes on the middle class and small businesses, while allowing the ultra-wealthy and corporations to avoid having to pay their fair share.

“The ‘penny-per-ounce’ tax may not sound like much to a lobbyist or insider, but it was crushing the budgets of middle class families by raising their grocery bills and driving business out of our community. The Cook County beverage tax raised the average cost of a 2-liter soda by 68 percent, a normal jug of orange juice by 24 percent, an eight-pack of sport drinks by 40 percent and a half gallon of chocolate milk by 21 percent.

“While I am glad that the Cook County Board eliminated the beverage tax, I will continue to fight in Springfield to make sure that no Illinois county can implement an unfair beverage tax on juice, sports drinks, flavored water and soda in the future.”