Suzi Wizowaty

Every Tuesday afternoon, the three parties hold their caucuses, to go over the bills to be introduced that week. This last Tuesday, we Dems got an advance look at the budget and what's called the Miscellaneous Tax Bill. Now both Appropriations and Ways and Means committees consist of smart, incredibly hardworking people who this year managed to come up with a balanced budget and some creative solutions that kept the state's human services programs from being eviscerated, as Governor Douglas had proposed. But. One of those creative fixes was to impose a tax on dietary supplements.

Why dietary supplements, rather than, say, soda? Dietary supplements at worst do nothing and at best provide great benefit. And soda? No one's arguing that soda's good for you. Soda contributes significantly to obesity, which increases your risk for just about every other chronic condition, driving up health care costs. Taxing soda would reduce consumption (saving health care dollars) and bring in between $6 M and $32 M. The proposed tax on supplements is expected to raise $1.3 M.

What's the deal? Some of us have been advocating for a soda tax since last year. But we've been told flatly, "We can't do it."

Why? Because such a tax would be wildly unpopular, especially along the state's eastern border, which might see customers crossing the Connecticut River to buy their groceries in N.H. "The grocers' association would be all over us."

I respect the economic concerns of the country store owners along the Connecticut River. But other states have introduced a soda tax; how are they handling border issues? Can we figure out a way to make this work? Can we work with N.H., or Maine and N.H. both? Can we at least keep the issue alive? (Yes, some of us will.)

And in the meantime, we may have a new tax on dietary supplements. As public policy, this makes no sense. I think it's bad policy. But in the end, I voted for the Miscellaneous Tax Bill which contains this and other things I didn't like, because... politics is about compromise.

And you hope for better the next year.