Report Soda Tax Chases Jobs Out of Baltimore

Tuesday, January 11, 2011
By Susan Jones

(CNSNews.com) - The Pepsi plant in Baltimore will no longer make soda, and the company plans to lay off 77 people -- a decision blamed in part on a controversial new beverage tax in the city, the Baltimore Sun reported on Tuesday.

Kristine Hinck, a company spokeswoman, cited the 2-cent tax on bottled beverages passed by the City Council last year. "Given the climate, making a beverage in a city where there is a beverage tax certainly doesn't help," the newspaper quoted her as saying.