By Jorge Casuso

March 9, 2016 -- Assembly member Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) on Wednesday is expected to introduce legislation that would establish a health impact fee on sugar sweetened-beverages nearly one year after a similar bill died in committee, his office announced Tuesday.

Like his previous bill, AB 2782 would establish a 2-cent-per-fluid-ounce health impact fee on sugar sweetened beverages at the distributor level to help fund obesity, diabetes prevention and oral health programs.

But unlike its predecessor, the new bill would specify the grants and health programs founded and target communities with the highest rates of diabetes and obesity, which are typically black and Latino, according to Bloom's office.

"As health risks such as diabetes and obesity associated with drinking sugar-sweetened beverages become more acute and prevalent," Bloom said in a statement, "policy makers have the opportunity to reverse this disturbing trend with programs that counteract the marketing campaigns that push these products, particularly at children."

At a press conference to introduce his previous bill, Bloom criticized the beverage industry's targeting of children.

“The beverage industry is marketing larger-sized bottles and fountain drinks,” Bloom said. “They are using larger and larger cups, especially when marketing to children.”

Under the proposed bill, revenues from the fee would be collected in the Healthy California Fund and distributed to counties, cities, nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations and licensed clinics "to create and support obesity and diabetes prevention activities, as well as safe drinking water and oral health programs," Bloom's office said.

Bloom's bill, which died in the Assembly Committee on Health last May, was expected to generate an estimated $3 billion a year.

It was jointly sponsored by the American Heart Association, the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California and the California Dental Association and was supported by numerous health advocates across California, Bloom said.

California does not allocate state funds towards the prevention and treatment of diabetes, he said.

Bloom has called diabetes "one of the biggest health crises facing our nation."

“Diabetes is now the seventh largest cause of death in the nation, Bloom said shortly after his previous bill failed. "If current trends aren’t reversed, one-in-three children born after 2000 -- and specifically one-in-two African-American or Hispanic children -- are expected to develop type 2 diabetes.

"The overwhelming view of health experts is that the single most significant cause of obesity and diabetes is overconsumption of sugar.”

A bill analysis presented to the Health Committee last May noted that "emerging studies suggest that small taxes on SSBs (sugar-sweetened beverages) are unlikely to affect obesity rates, but they can generate revenue that states can invest in improving public health."

Bloom's original bill was opposed by the California League of Food Processors, which stated that "the personal decision to purchase and consume a SSB should not be regulated by the Legislature through the imposition of new fees or taxes,' according to the analysis of the bill.

Opponents said it is "unfair and "inaccurate" to blame sugar-sweetened beverages as the "main culprit" for diabetes, according to the analysis.

"It needs to be made clear that obesity and related diseases, like diabetes, have multiple risk factors, including diet, genetics, age, and stress," the analysis said, summarizing the opponents' position.

"Dealing with these health issues is more complicated than simply taxing a sub-set of beverages."