As Governor Paterson returns to Albany today to headline a symposium about a revived penny-per-ounce soda tax , he’s picked up some more support from Mayor Bloomberg, who’s always up for taxing vice . “In these tough economic times, easy fixes to our problems are hard to come by,” said Bloomberg during his radio address yesterday. “But the soda tax is a fix that just makes sense. It would save lives. It would cut rising health care costs. And it would keep thousands of teachers and nurses where they belong: in the classrooms and clinics.” Bloomberg had supported a tax on sugary soft drinks last year , but backed away after an “enormous outcry.” Now, it seems, the time has come. “What I think you’re seeing is really a momentum shift in favor of doing it,” Dr. Richard F. Daines, the state health commissioner, tells the Times . According to Daines, the new tax “differs from the one proposed last year in that it would be levied directly on soda producers and the estimated $1 billion in annual revenue would be dedicated to the health care budget, rather than to the general fund.” Bloomberg says tax revenue would also benefit education. According to experts , a 10 percent soda tax would cut consumption by 8 percent and make $14.9 billion for the state in its first year.

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Soda Tax Gathering Momentum