Letter: Pastors Oppose Community Tax
From: Alliance for an Affordable DC, January 31st, 2020
Dear DC City Council Members: As District of Columbia faith leaders, one of our most important responsibilities is to ensure the well-being of our congregations and the community at large. We have always supported commonsense public policy measures that we feel improve the lives of those in our communities, but we have deep concerns about the Council’s recent introduction of the Healthy Beverage Choices Act. This is not only because of the substance of the bill, but also because of the process by which it was proposed. This tax will have a disproportionately negative impact on poor families, who spend a higher percentage of their income on groceries. The District’s cost of living is already high and we are concerned that taxes like this one will only serve to exacerbate the financial burden on those who can least afford it. Additionally, the revenue from this tax will be raised on the backs of working families from the east side of the city, and there is no certainty that the revenue from this proposed tax will go back into their communities
