California lawmakers have banned cities and counties from creating new soda taxes after the American Beverage Association backed a ballot issue that would have made it much harder for state and local governments to raise taxes of any kind.

A bill signed into law Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown prohibits local governments from imposing new taxes on groceries—including sugary beverages—through 2030, The Sacramento Bee reported. The legislation was drafted after ABA raised $7 million to support a ballot issue that, if approved by voters, would have required any new local tax to be approved by two-thirds of voters. In addition, at least two-thirds of state lawmakers would have needed to approve new revenue-generating measures before they took effect. Current state law allows tax increases by a simple majority vote in both cases.

State lawmakers and public-sector unions feared voter approval of the ballot issue would have raised the bar incredibly high for the state and its cities and counties to generate new tax revenue for schools, infrastructure and other government services. The new law is part of a deal with the beverage industry to get it to withdraw its support for the ballot issue.

Many beverage industry critics blasted ABA's political strategy, with one state lawmaker likening it to "extortion."

"We find ourselves truly between the biggest rock and the smallest hard space," Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins said before asking her colleagues to support the bill, according to the newspaper.

ABA has successfully fought efforts by states and local governments to impose taxes on sugary beverage in the past, but in recent years the beverage industry group has lost some notable battles. Berkley, San Francisco and Oakland have all enacted soda taxes since 2014, and the trend is spreading beyond California. Philadelphia and Boulder, Colo., have enacted the tax. Cook County, Ill.—home of Chicago—also enacted a tax but repealed it last year.

With more communities considering soda taxes, ABA decided to switch strategies in California and instead pour millions of dollars into backing a statewide measure to toughen the requirements for enacting a tax of any kind. In a statement to The Sacramento Bee, the association said the new law will "help working families by preventing unfair increases to their grocery bills."

"At the same time, we're working with the public health community and government officials to help Californians reduce sugar consumption in ways that don't cost jobs or hurt the small businesses that are so important to local communities," ABA said. http://bit.ly/2tGjlff

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