Hillary Clinton backed a plan from Philadelphia’s mayor Wednesday to place a tax on soda intended to fund universal preschool in the city.
During a forum in Philadelphia hosted by a gun control advocacy group, Clinton announced she was "very supportive" of Mayor Jim Kenney’s plan to impose a three-cent tax on soda and sugary drinks, CNN reported.
"It starts early with working with families, working with kids, building up community resources—I'm very supportive of the mayor's proposal to tax soda to get universal pre-school for kids," Clinton said. "I mean, we need universal pre-school. And if that's a way to do it, that's how we should do it."
Mothers of the Movement hosted the event discussing how to break the "school-to-prison pipeline" with a "cradle-to-college" route.
Kenney unveiled his plan to tax soda last Month, estimating that it would sweep in $400 million of revenue during the next five years that could be put toward preschool education programs.
Kenney’s predecessor, Michael Nutter, attempted twice to tax soda at two cents per ounce but failed both times.
Researchers at the Urban Institute found in December that a sugar tax a consumption tax on soda or junk food has an insignificant impact on obesity levels. A 10 percent sugar tax, they said, would only decrease obesity by one to three percentage points.
The Guardian reported last month that consumption taxes hit the poor hardest with little evidence that it actually steers consumers toward healthier options.
Last year, Berkeley, Calif. became the first U.S. city to successfully implement a tax on sugary beverages such as sodas and energy drinks.