SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, is fighting to repeal the Cook County beverage tax by calling for a new state law eliminating the county’s additional tax on fruit juices, flavored waters and sodas, and prohibiting these taxes statewide.

“The middle-class families I represent are sick and tired of being nickeled and dimed at every turn,” Mussman said. “I oppose the county’s tax, because as a mother of three boys I know that fruit juices, flavored waters and sodas aren’t luxuries, they’re everyday purchases which now further add to the burden of families that are already stretched thin. It’s time to correct Cook County’s mistake and provide local families with some much-needed relief.”

Mussman is working to give Cook County residents a break from high taxes and level the playing field for local businesses by introducing House Bill 4083. Mussman’s bill eliminates Cook County’s “penny-per-ounce” tax on sweetened beverages, which even raises taxes on orange juice and vegetable juices, certain coffees and teas, flavored waters and diet sodas. Mussman’s bill would also prohibit any local government in Illinois from implementing such taxes in the future.

In addition to fighting against Cook County’s beverage tax, Mussman has successfully opposed new state taxes on groceries. The county’s tax raises the average cost of a 2-liter soda by 67 percent, and raises the average cost of a bottle of fruit juice or iced tea by 43 percent.

“Middle-class families and seniors living on fixed incomes can’t afford new taxes every time politicians need money, and small businesses in our area can’t afford another tax that pushes customers across the county line for even their most basic purchases,” Mussman said. “Repealing Cook County’s tax and stopping these taxes statewide makes our community and all communities in Illinois better places for families to live and a better places for small businesses to grow.”