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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7273
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 7005
Referred to Committee on FINANCE, REVENUE AND
BONDING
Introduced by:
(FIN)
AN ACT IMPOSING A TAX ON CERTAIN SWEETENED BEVERAGES,
SYRUPS AND POWDERS AND DEDICATING THE REVENUE
GENERATED TO A UNIVERSAL FREE SCHOOL MEALS PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Distributor" means any person that receives, stores, 2
manufactures or distributes sweetened beverages, syrups or powders, 3
for sale to retailers doing business in the state; 4
(2) "Fruit juice" means the original liquid resulting from the pressing 5
of fruits or the liquid resulting from the dilution with water of 6
dehydrated fruit juice; 7
(3) "Medical beverage" means any (A) medical food, as defined in 21 8
USC 360ee, as amended from time to time, (B) product in liquid form 9
that is (i) designed as oral nutrition therapy for individuals who may 10
have a limited ability to absorb or metabolize dietary nutrients from 11
traditional food or beverages, or (ii) an oral rehydration electrolyte 12
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solution to prevent or treat dehydration, and (C) product sold in liquid 13
form that is designed as supplemental, meal replacement or sole-source 14
nutrition and includes proteins, carbohydrates and multiple vitamins 15
and minerals; 16
(4) "Milk-based beverage" means any nonalcoholic beverage that 17
contains at least fifty per cent dairy ingredients by volume, including 18
milk, cream, yogurt, kefir or other dairy-derived products, regardless of 19
butterfat content or added sugar, nonnutritive sweetener or other 20
flavoring. "Milk-based beverage" includes dairy creamer, milk 21
concentrate, whether or not reconstituted, and powdered milk, whether 22
or not reconstituted. "Milk-based beverage" does not include nondairy 23
milk alternatives or nondairy creamers; 24
(5) "Nonalcoholic beverage" means any beverage that contains less 25
than one-half of one per cent alcohol by volume; 26
(6) "Nonnutritive sweetener" means any substance suitable for 27
human consumption that humans perceive as sweet and contains fewer 28
than five calories per serving, such as aspartame, acesulfame potassium, 29
neotame, saccharin, sucralose and stevia; 30
(7) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, limited 31
liability company, association, personal representative, receiver, trustee, 32
assignee or other legal entity; 33
(8) "Powder" means a dry mixture of ingredients used to make, mix 34
or compound sweetened beverages by combining such mixture with 35
one or more ingredients such as water, ice, syrup, simple syrup, fruits, 36
vegetables, fruit juice, vegetable juice or carbonation or other gas; 37
(9) "Retailer" means any person that sells or otherwise dispenses 38
sweetened beverages to consumers in the state; 39
(10) "Sugar" means any monosaccharide or disaccharide sweetener 40
that contains five or more calories per serving, such as cane sugar, beet 41
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sugar, glucose, fructose, lactose, sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, 42
honey and fruit juice concentrate; 43
(11) "Sweetened beverage" means any carbonated or noncarbonated 44
beverage that is intended for human consumption and contains any 45
added sugar or nonnutritive sweetener. "Sweetened beverage" does not 46
include (A) any beverage that is one hundred per cent fruit juice, one 47
hundred per cent vegetable juice or a combination thereof, (B) any milk-48
based beverage, (C) water, (D) infant formula, or (E) any medical 49
beverage; 50
(12) "Syrup" means a liquid mixture of ingredients used to make, mix 51
or compound sweetened beverages by combining such mixture with 52
one or more ingredients such as water, ice, powder, simple syrup, fruits, 53
vegetables, fruit juice, vegetable juice or carbonation or other gas, and 54
includes such mixtures sold in a frozen state; 55
(13) "Vegetable juice" means the original liquid resulting from the 56
pressing of vegetables or the liquid resulting from the dilution with 57
water of dehydrated vegetable juice; and 58
(14) "Water" means carbonated or noncarbonated liquid water that is 59
unflavored or is flavored without the use of sugars or nonnutritive 60
sweeteners. 61
(b) (1) Commencing October 1, 2025, each distributor shall pay a tax 62
on sweetened beverages, syrups and powders sold to a retailer for sale 63
in the state of (A) two cents per fluid ounce of sweetened beverages, and 64
(B) for syrups and powders intended for commercial or institutional use, 65
two cents per fluid ounce of sweetened beverages that can be produced 66
from each container of syrup or powder, however packaged, calculated 67
as the largest volume of sweetened beverage resulting from the use of 68
such container of syrup or powder in accordance with the 69
manufacturer's instructions. Any sweetened beverages, syrups and 70
powders subject to the tax shall be taxed only once under this section. 71
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(2) The tax imposed by this section shall not apply to: 72
(A) Sales of sweetened beverages, syrups or powders by a distributor 73
to (i) the state or a political subdivision thereof, (ii) the federal 74
government, (iii) a tribal government, (iv) a retailer expressly for resale 75
or consumption outside the state, (v) another distributor, provided the 76
sales invoice clearly indicates the sale is to another distributor, or (vi) a 77
person that is both a distributor and a retailer, provided such person 78
shall pay such tax upon the resale of such product to a retailer or a 79
consumer; or 80
(B) Sales of syrups and powders packaged to be used by a consumer 81
for personal use. 82
(c) On or before the last day of the month following each monthly 83
period, each distributor shall file a return with the Department of 84
Revenue Services. Such return shall be in such form and contain such 85
information as the Commissioner of Revenue Services prescribes as 86
necessary for the administration of the tax under this section and shall 87
be accompanied by a payment of the amount of tax shown to be due 88
thereon. Each distributor shall file such return electronically with the 89
department and make such payment by electronic funds transfer in the 90
manner provided by chapter 228g of the general statutes. 91
(d) The commissioner shall deposit the amounts received by the state 92
from the tax imposed by subsection (b) of this section in the universal 93
free school meals account established under section 2 of this act. 94
(e) The provisions of sections 12-547 to 12-554, inclusive, of the 95
general statutes and section 12-555a of the general statutes shall apply 96
to the provisions of this section in the same manner and with the same 97
force and effect as if the language of said sections had been incorporated 98
in full into this section and had expressly referred to the tax under this 99
section, except to the extent that any such provision is inconsistent with 100
a provision of this section. 101
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(f) The Commissioner of Revenue Services may adopt regulations, in 102
accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to 103
implement the provisions of this section and may make rulings, not 104
inconsistent with law, to carry into effect the provisions of this section, 105
which regulations or rulings, when reasonably designed to carry out the 106
intent and purposes of this section, shall be prima facie evidence of its 107
proper interpretation. 108
(g) At the end of each fiscal year commencing with the fiscal year 109
ending on June 30, 2026, the Comptroller is authorized to record as 110
revenue for such fiscal year the amount of tax imposed under the 111
provisions of this section on all sweetened beverages, syrups and 112
powders sold prior to the end of such fiscal year and which tax is 113
received by the Commissioner of Revenue Services not later than five 114
business days after the last day of July immediately following the end 115
of such fiscal year. 116
(h) (1) The Commissioner of Revenue Services shall enter into a 117
contract with academic researchers who have a proven track record of 118
rigorous policy evaluation for impacts on behavior, health and 119
economic outcomes, to evaluate the effects of the tax imposed by 120
subsection (b) of this section, for at least the first five years after the 121
reimbursement grants under section 2 of this act are first disbursed. 122
Such evaluation shall assess, but need not be limited to, the following: 123
(A) The process of implementing the tax, including the perceptions 124
of residents and specifically low-income households as determined by 125
the researchers, distributors, retailers and the Department of Revenue 126
Services and other state officials as determined by the researchers; 127
(B) The impact of the tax on economic outcomes, including household 128
food expenditures, beverage prices and sales, jobs in the state and 129
retailer revenues; 130
(C) The impact of the tax on health outcomes, including dietary 131
purchases and consumption; and 132
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(D) How the tax revenue is being used and the impact of such 133
funding. 134
(2) The researchers shall submit such evaluation to the commissioner 135
for the first, third and fifth year after the reimbursement grants under 136
section 2 of this act are first disbursed. The commissioner shall submit 137
such evaluation to the joint standing committees of the General 138
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and 139
bonding, education and public health and shall post such evaluation on 140
the Department of Revenue Services' Internet web site. 141
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) (1) The Commissioner of 142
Education shall establish, for school years commencing on and after July 143
1, 2026, a universal free school meals program to provide 144
reimbursement grants from the universal free school meals account 145
established under this section to local and regional boards of education, 146
to assist public schools to provide free breakfasts and lunches to all 147
public school students. Funds from the account shall be allocated on a 148
per-meal reimbursement rate determined by the commissioner, 149
adjusted annually to reflect changes in food service costs. 150
(2) (A) Not later than February 1, 2026, the commissioner shall 151
establish guidelines for the program, the form and manner by which 152
local and regional boards of education may request reimbursement 153
under the program, the information required to substantiate such 154
requests and any other provisions the commissioner deems necessary to 155
implement the program. Not later than March 1, 2026, the commissioner 156
shall post information concerning the program on the Department of 157
Education's Internet web site and notify all local and regional boards of 158
education of such posting. 159
(B) The department shall (i) provide training and offer technical 160
assistance to local and regional boards of education to effectively 161
implement the program, and (ii) conduct public awareness campaigns 162
to inform public school students, families and staff about the program. 163
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(3) Local and regional boards of education may not request 164
reimbursement for school breakfasts and lunches for which funding is 165
or will be provided through the National School Lunch Program, the 166
School Breakfast Program or any other similar program. 167
(4) If the total amount of the reimbursements requested for any school 168
year exceeds the amount available for disbursement through the 169
universal free school meals program, the commissioner shall reduce the 170
amount of the reimbursement grant payable to each eligible local and 171
regional board of education proportionately. 172
(b) There is established an account to be known as the "universal free 173
school meals account", which shall be a separate, nonlapsing account. 174
The account shall contain any moneys required by law to be deposited 175
in the account. Moneys in the account shall be expended by the 176
Department of Education for the sole purpose of providing 177
reimbursement grants to local and regional boards of education 178
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. 179
(c) The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the 180
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the 181
provisions of this section. 182
(d) Not later than November 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the 183
Commissioners of Education and Revenue Services shall jointly submit 184
a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general 185
statutes, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly 186
having cognizance of matters relating to education, finance, revenue 187
and bonding and public health. Such report shall include information 188
for the preceding fiscal year concerning (1) the amounts received by the 189
state from the tax imposed by section 1 of this act, (2) the total amount 190
of the reimbursement grants disbursed under this section, (3) the 191
specific boards of education to which such grants were disbursed and 192
the total amount each such board was provided, (4) for each such board, 193
the number of meals reimbursed through each grant, and (5) any other 194
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information the commissioners deem relevant to the evaluation of the 195
effectiveness of such tax in providing free breakfasts and lunches to 196
public school students. Said commissioners shall post such report on 197
each department's Internet web site. 198
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To impose a tax on certain sweetened beverages, syrups and powders
and dedicate the revenue generated to a universal free school meals
program to reimburse local and regional boards of education for the
provision of free school breakfasts and lunches to all public school
students.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]