The Seattle City Council voted to override a veto by Mayor Jenny Durkan to keep the city's soda tax flowing for its original purpose.
Mayor Jenny Durkan vetoed a council bill, which included language to redirect excess collections from the 2017 sugary beverage tax towards programs which promote healthy eating and prevent obesity.
Durkan believed millions could be used for other purposes, like homelessness, and vetoed to the bill.
On Monday, the council voted 6-3 to override the rare veto. The council needed six votes in order to do it. Councilmembers Bagshaw, Pacheco, and Juarez sided with Durkan.
The tax has been controversial from the start, and was modeled after other municipalities around the country, but did not cut usage as originally projected.
A state referendum on banning 'grocery taxes', which came in the wake of Seattle's move, was passed overwhelmingly in 2018.
On Wednesday, the Sweetened Beverage Tax Community Advisory Board (CAB) released their first annual Sweetened Beverage Tax Annual Report. The report details the 2018 beverage tax revenue collection, along with describing the food access and early childhood programs supported by the tax.
