Judge dismisses beverage industry lawsuit against city of Philadelphia over soda tax.
Philadelphia can keep its soda tax, a judge has ruled.
Judge Gary Glazer dismissed the beverage industry’s lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia regarding the soda tax “in its entirety” on Friday, according to a report in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
An attorney for the plaintiffs said they plan to appeal the ruling.
The Philadelphia Beverage Tax (PBT), as it is called, taxes sweetened beverages at 1.5-cent per ounce, with the funds from the tax set to pay for expanded pre-K programs.
Judge Glazer refuted the main arguments of the plaintiffs, saying the tax does not duplicate the Pennsylvania’s sales and use tax, nor does it violate the state Constitution’s Uniformity Clause, nor does it force SNAP beneficiaries to spend the program’s funds on the sales tax.