Beverage tax is arbitrary

I am curious as to how a law that does not treat all consumers of sweetened beverages equally can possibly be constitutional. It is my understanding that the law has been modified so that SNAP enrollees will NOT have to pay the beverage tax. Neither will those who have sweetener added by a server or prepared at the counter. Therefore, it appears to be an arbitrary assessment of a tax on certain consumers of sweetened beverages. As a result, I will assume the projected health benefits of such an ill-conceived tax and overreach by county government will not be as robust as reported in the media and by the complicit Illinois Health Policy Institute.

Our country was founded on a revolution by those who refused to pay a tax on a common beverage of their time. Such taxes have never been effective at either changing personal habits nor raising money to pay for a broken government. Perhaps concerned citizens can send a message of protest to the Cook County government by refusing to purchase anything in Cook County until such poorly conceived laws designed to satisfy poorly managed budgets are overturned.

Peter Gennuso

Schaumburg