Cook County Beverage Tax Repeal Vote set for October 10

A meeting of the Cook County Board’s Finance Committee has been called for Tuesday, October 10 at 10:00am to take up the ordinance to repeal the Cook County Sweetened Beverage Tax.

At the request of Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison, the lead sponsor of the ordinance, Finance Committee Chairman John Daley has agreed to set a meeting date to conduct a public hearing on the matter and have the item considered before the board.

“It’s time for the county board to vote and we will now have a vote to repeal on October 10. This regressive Beverage Tax is slamming our residents and businesses. We need to take action and stem the economic damage,” stated Commissioner Morrison.

On August 9, Commissioner Morrison submitted the Beverage Tax Repeal Ordinance with the aggressive goal of waving the board rules and fast tracking the repeal ordinance directly to the board floor for a straight up or down vote on September 13.

Consumers in Cook County are fleeing rising taxation by County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and are not only buying thier pop outsid eof Cook County to avoid the oppressive Preckwinkle Tax but are also using their out-of-county visits to purchase groceries. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania — Consumers in Cook County are fleeing rising taxation by County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and are not only buying their pop outside of Cook County to avoid the oppressive Preckwinkle Tax but are also using their out-of-county visits to purchase groceries. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania

Commissioner Morrison recognized that the political will for a fast track vote was not there among a voting majority of his colleagues, therefore the repeal ordinance was sent to the Finance Committee.

“Subverting the will of the people is a dangerous road to tread for this county board and there will likely be significant consequences as a result if action on the repeal vote is not taken,” added Morrison.

Last November, the Beverage Tax was passed by the county board by the slimmest of margins. It took a first-ever vote from President Toni Preckwinkle to break an 8-8 deadlock and pass the tax into law. It was unpopular with the county board upon passage and now it’s reviled by residents at a staggering number nearing almost 90%.

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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