March 2, 2018

On Monday, February 26, the coalition “Yes! To Affordable Groceries” registered a ballot committee with Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission — the first step in a process to forward a statewide ballot measure in Washington that will keep groceries free of new local taxes. One of the sponsors of the ballot committee is Teamsters Joint Council 28.

Teamsters Joint Council 28 President and Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks made the following statement in support of the coalition:

The Teamsters have long been committed to expanding the rights, wages, and benefits of working families. Taxes on food and beverages represent a very real threat to the livelihoods of hardworking people like our members, who have fought to build family wage jobs with strong benefits throughout our state. We have seen the impact of these taxes already in Seattle and in other cities like Philadelphia and Chicago, and we are concerned they could spread their damaging effects to other communities throughout Washington State. These measures, however well intentioned, directly conflict with what we as an organization stand for. They harm our economy and our members.

We applaud efforts that this committee will champion that will put a halt to any further taxes on food and beverages, give working families a voice, and help keep the cost of living in check throughout the state.

Here is the full coalition’s statement:

With the harm working families and small businesses are experiencing from taxes in Seattle, people are concerned that more taxes could spread to other communities across Washington. Working families and individuals are clearly being pressed on the affordability of their communities. They feel taxed enough and can’t afford new taxes on what they eat and drink. Therefore, with a coalition of taxpayers, grocers, farmers and union members, the Yes! To Affordable Groceries Committee will seek to prevent local government from enacting new taxes on groceries. The pending ballot measure will give working families more voice and protection on the affordability of their groceries and their communities overall. As members of these Washington communities, we employ thousands of people across the state. For that reason, we believe we have a responsibility to protect those who would be harmed by these taxes.

To be clear, we are not looking to end or reverse revenue streams that have already been passed by local governments. Our coalition will be focused on keeping groceries affordable and free of new local taxes. We appreciate the challenges community leaders face, but there is a better way to address them than with grocery taxes that do more harm than good.