Soda Tax Won't Hurt Job Prospects, Study Finds

As the Connecticut legislature considers a proposal to implement a 2 percent tax on sodas, proposed by Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney at the suggestion of New Haven Mayor and former state senator Toni Harp, two new academic studies challenge the beverage industry’s view that state and local taxes on sugary drinks will hurt employment, and offer suggestions to policy makers based on the tobacco tax experience. Harp has said the soda tax would discourage consumption of the sugary beverages – part of her campaign to combat obesity – and bring in an estimated $144 million in revenue for the state each year. It would tax all beverages “high in calories or sugar” by two percent, but does not specify how many calories or grams of sugar would trigger the tax.

The studies, appearing in the February and March issues of the American Journal of Public Health, argue, in one case, that claims of employment losses are off base because they focus only on the effects within the industry, ignoring the economic activity that comes with people substituting lower-priced goods for more expensive products as well as new spending from tax revenues.  The other study says that tobacco taxes offer a how-to road map for policy makers.

The study to be published in March, led by Jennifer L. Pomeranz, JD, MPH, while at the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, uses as its premise that “excise taxes on sugary beverages have been proposed as a method to replicate the public health success of tobacco control and to generate revenue.”

“Sugary Beverage Tax Policy: Lessons Learned from Tobacco”  indicates that “as policymakers increase efforts to pass sugary beverage taxes, they can anticipate that manufacturers will emulate the strategies employed by tobacco companies in their attempts to counteract the impact of such taxes.”  Pomeranz suggests that “policymakers should therefore consider two complementary laws—minimum price laws and prohibitions on coupons and discounting—to accomplish the intended price increase.”

Researchers at the University of Illinois, in a just-published study in the February issue of American Journal of Public Health, found that a 20 percent increase on the price of sugar-sweetened beverages would have an overall positive impact on the labor market.

The American Beverage Association has traditionally argued that manufacturers, distributors and small business owners, particularly grocers and convenience store proprietors, would suffer were soda taxes to be imposed, but the study says that’s not likely.

In recent years, proposals to tax those beverages fell short in California, Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York and Rhode Island, Governing magazine reported.  In Maine voters passed a soda tax of 42 cents per gallon in 2008 but repealed it two years later amid a major lobbying effort from the American Beverage Association. Voters in Washington state similarly reversed their legislature in 2010.  As of the end of state legislative sessions in 2011, Governing reported, only four states had taxes specifically targeting sugary beverages, including Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, according to the Tax Foundation.

In the study published this month, researchers ran a simulation of the impact of 20-percent soda tax in Illinois and California—selected for regional differences—and found slight employment increases would occur, but the net effect would be close to nothing. They found that people choose to spend their money on other things, not to forego spending entirely, and that employment gains in other sectors of the economy far outweigh the job losses for soda makers, National Journal reported.

“We find there are losses in the beverage industry, but when you’re talking about the whole economy suffering job losses, you can’t just talk about your own industry,” Lisa Powell, health policy professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the study’s lead author, told National Journal. “Using job loss as a scare tactic for the economy overall is misleading.”

Public health advocates have warned of a link between added sugar and illnesses ranging  from Type 2 diabetes and obesity to heart disease and osteoporosis. The caloric intake of sugary beverages increased dramatically from 1988 to the mid 2000s, though consumption has dropped across all age groups in recent years, Governing reported, with some citing the increased public attraction to teas and other beverages.  Like Harp and Looney in Connecticut, some elected officials around the country have proposed raising taxes on sugary drinks in order to reduce consumption.  The New Haven Register reported that Harp has pointed out that revenue from the cigarette tax has decreased, showing that the effectiveness of a tax in reducing consumption.

Pomeranz is a public health law and policy researcher focusing on marketing, labeling and youth access issues related to food and beverages, over-the-counter diet drugs, and dietary supplements, publishing on topics including discrimination, the First Amendment, public health preemption, and innovative regulatory strategies to address public health problems such as obesity. She is Assistant Professor at the Center for Obesity Research and Education in the Department of Public Health and at the College of Health Professionals and Social Work at Temple University, having served previously as Director of Legal Initiatives at the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.  She is currently the Policy Chair of the Health Law Section of the American Public Health Association and the official liaison between the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association.

Lisa Powell is a Senior Research Scientist in the Institute for Health Research and Policy and Research Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has extensive experience as an applied micro-economist in the empirical analysis of the effects of public policy on a series of behavioral outcomes.

A 2011 study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity found that young people are being exposed to a massive amount of marketing for sugary drinks, such as full-calorie soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, and fruit drinks.  The study, described as the most comprehensive and science-based assessment of sugary drink nutrition and marketing ever conducted, found that companies were marketing sugary drinks targeting young people, especially black and Hispanic youth.

This story was reported by CT by the Numbers on February 16, 2014

Pilot Project Boosts Voter Engagement in Latino Community

It turns out, all that was necessary to improve voter engagement and turnout was asking – and repeated, substantive, and informative reminders.  The results of a pilot study in Hartford’s Latino community may provide critical insight into how to improve voting levels in the state’s ethnic or urban communities, as the next election season beckons.

In 2012-13, the Hartford Votes~Hartford Vota Coalition conducted a Latino Voter Engagement Initiative with the support of a grant obtained by Hartford Public Library, a founding member of the Coalition.  The goal of the initiative was to increase historically low voter engagement in Hartford’s Latino community.  It did.

The initiative included traditional voter registration activities, but because voter registration by itself tends not to result in higher voter engagement, additional activities were also included in the initiative.  Among them:  candidate forums, public programs on relevant topics, production and distribution of publications such as voter guides, canvassing portions of Hartford neighborhoods, conducting a reminder to vote campaign, and civics classes in Hartford high schools.

In addition, a number of meetings were held with leaders and others from Hartford’s Latino community.  None of the conversations or interactions were partisan.  They focused exclusively on the electoral process, the importance of exercising the right to vote, and providing basic information about public issues.  The results of the initiative were impressive:

• Voter Registration:  392 Hartford Latinos were registered to vote.
• Voter Information: 174 Hartford Latinos attended three candidate forums and two public programs.  Three publications were produced (Hartford Voters Guide, Citizens Guide, and Guide to the Hartford Board of Education) in English and Spanish and over 4,000 copies were distributed.
• Voter Education: 124 Hartford Latinos participated in the neighborhood canvass; 172 Hartford Latino high school students attended civics classes.

According to a sample survey conducted at the end of the project, 44 percent of Hartford Latinos with whom program organizers interacted reported an increase in their voter engagement.  For example, they registered to vote, they voted, or they attended a candidate forum or public program related to major public issues during the project period.

Project organizers concluded that “we identified and demonstrated a successful strategy that can help address the very complex problem of low voter engagement (among Latinos and others):  people vote and get involved in greater numbers when they are encouraged to do so through face-to-face contact, and multiple contacts are more effective than single contacts.”

The neighborhood canvass produced especially notable results:

• 54 percent of Latinos who were inactive voters (i.e., they had never voted before or were registered but had not voted in the 2008 and/or the 2010 elections) who participated in the neighborhood canvass reported that they voted in 2012 as a result of the interaction.
• 64 percent of all Latinos who participated in the neighborhood canvass reported that they voted in 2012 as a result of the interaction.
• Those who were spoken with twice voted at a rate 21 percent higher than those that only had one interaction
• 2012 voter turnout among all people included in the neighborhood canvass was 9.1 percent higher than overall turnout in voting districts in which an informational canvass was conducted, and 6.7 percent higher than turnout citywide.

 In addition, thirteen high school civics classes were conducted in four different Hartford schools in May and June 2013, which were attended by 172 Latino students. According to evaluation forms completed by most of the students, 91 percent said the class helped them understand more about civics and 82 percent said they were more likely to vote or take action in their community as a result of having taken the class.  Comments ranged from “I made my voice heard through my vote” to “I didn’t do it for politics but because people motivated me.”

 The Hartford experience has been corroborated by similar research in Detroit and Arizona, according to project organizers.  The Coalition’s goal in 2014 is to secure resources that will enable it to ramp up the successful strategies identified through the pilot project and as a result have greater impact.

“Through these strategies,” they suggest, “we can play a significant role in reducing the effects of low voter engagement, which is a major threat to our democracy.”

Kevin Ollie Made Believers of the Uncertain at UConn

In September 2012, the Kevin Ollie era at UConn began – with a short leash.  As Hall of Fame veteran  coach Jim Calhoun retired, Ollie – a former UConn and NBA player – was hired on a one-year trial basis.  The rest, as they say, is history.

But when it began, the view was far from unanimous that UConn had made the right choice.  The sports blog SB Nation posted a day one poll, and 30 percent of the respondents expressed the view that his selection was either a mistake, or that a national search for a new coach should still be pursued.  And NBC Sports website said this:  “Asking Ollie to win at the same level as Calhoun is incredibly unfair.”

Some criticized UConn Athletic Director Warde Manuel for putting Ollie in a tough position – especially in recruiting - uncertain if he’d be coaching for more than a single season.  Manuel, in November 2012, told the New York Times: “I understand the angst that a recruit would have. What I’ve said to them is we’re going to make a decision for UConn that we believe and I believe keeps us winning Big East championships and competing for national championships.”

Two months later, in December 2012, Ollie was given a new contract that runs through the end of the 2017-18 season.  The deal, the Associated Press reported at the time, is worth just under $7 million and began on Jan. 1, 2013.  Ollie, who played point guard for Calhoun from 1991-95, was his former coach's hand-picked successor, the AP reported. He had become an assistant coach at UConn in 2010, after 13 years playing for 11 different teams in the NBA.

That season – one in which UConn was banned from NCAA tournament play due to poor academic performance in previous seasons – some player-athletes departed the scene.  It’s doubtful that Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond, who entered the NBA draft, or Alex Oriachi, Michael Bradley and Roscoe Smith, who transferred, thought they were walking away from a National Championship team.

The tenacious and confident Ollie, 52-18 as UConn’s head coach over the past 18 months, said simply after winning the 2014 NCAA Championship game, “we did it the right way.”

Connecticut Ranks #48 in Federal Income Tax Refunds

Connecticut ranks #48 in the nation in income tax refunds its residents receive from the federal government.  Just over 11 percent of the taxes paid by state residents to the federal government are refunded to them, a percentage that is better than only the states of Delaware and Minnesota, and the District of Columbia.

By comparison, Mississippi residents receive more than three times that percentage.  One third of the taxes paid by Mississippi residents – 34.84 percent – come back in refunds.  West Virginia residents receive 30 percent of the taxes they paid, South Carolina 26.27 percent and Alabama 26 percent.  Bloomberg.com reviewed Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data and ranked the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on the percentage of gross individual income taxes withheld or paid that were returned as refunds the following year.

Figures are for a five-year period: fiscal years 2007 through 2011 for tax collections and fiscal years 2008 through 2012 for refunds. For both collections and refunds, data include individual income tax withheld, individual income tax payments, FICA taxes, SECA taxes, unemployment insurance taxes, railroad retirement taxes and estate and trust income taxes. Refunds include interest.

Connecticut’s gross total individual federal income tax collected between 2007 to 2011 was $206.31 million.  Total individual income tax refunded from the federal government between 2008 to 2012 was $23.56 million.  Joining Connecticut among the states with the lowest percentage refunded, in addition to Minnesota and Delaware, are Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, New York and Nebraska. 

Connecticut Ranks Third Among Least Tax-Friendly for Retirees

“The Constitution State is a tax nightmare for many retirees.” That is the thumbnail summary for Connecticut, which ranked third among the 10 Least Tax-Friendly States for Retirees, according to a list compiled by the business and personal finance publication Kiplinger’s.

Worst in the nation, according to the list, is Rhode Island, followed by Vermont, Connecticut, Minnesota and Montana.  The publication used data from state tax departments, Commerce Clearing House and the Tax Foundation to develop the rankings. “Some states offer attractive tax benefits to woo retirees,” the publication indicated. “Then there are these ten states that are stingy with retirement tax breaks.”

Kiplinger’s pointed out that “Conneticut’s “real estate taxes are the second-highest in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation.”  Rhode Island was described as “particularly tough on retirees,” and retirees in Vermont should “prepare to pay lofty taxes,” according to Kiplinger.

1. Rhode Island
2. Vermont
3. Connecticut
4. Minnesota
5. Montana
6. Oregon
7. Nebraska
8. California
9. New Jersey
10. New York

“When you're living on a fixed income, every penny counts, which makes these states particularly unwelcoming for retirees,” the publication noted.  Most of the states tax at least a portion of Social Security benefits. Some also have higher-than-average income taxes. Others make up for low income and sales taxes with high property taxes. The survey also considered  estate and  inheritance taxes.

The tax friendliest state for retirees is Alaska, which has no income tax, no sales tax and no inheritance tax. Alaska is followed by Wyoming, Georgia and Arizona.

Connecticut’s high cost of living —  more than 30% higher than the national average, according to Sperling’s Best Places.  However, “high prices and taxes don’t deter retirees who like the scenery and who want to stay close to children, grandchildren and lifelong friends in the nearby metropolitan areas,” according to MarketWatch, a service of the Wall Street Journal, published this week.  The data compiled by Kiplinger’s Senior Associate Editor was first reported last summer.

Kiplinger is a Washington, D.C.-based publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice, available in print, online, audio, video and software products.  The company’s best-known publications are The Kiplinger Letter, a weekly business and economic forecasting periodical for people in management, and the monthly Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.

Getting to the Final Four: $140 for Some UConn Students, Multiples Higher for Fans

For 51 UConn undergraduate students, $100 will provide a round trip to Texas for the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four as UConn pursues a National Championship.  For everyone else, the price tag is considerably steeper – and climbing.

UConn’s Undergraduate Student Government is sponsoring a bus to take students from Storrs to Texas this weekend. The bus will depart from Storrs at 6:00 AM on Friday and is expected to arrive in Arlington, Texas no later than 1:00PM Saturday – in time for the early evening game at AT&T Stadium.

The student government is not responsible for meals, lodging or other accommodations at any point during the trip, but will get the fortunate 51 (first come, first served, of course) within shouting distance of the Final Four.  For a shot at a bus ticket, however, students must have proof that they are already a NCAA student ticket holder for the Final Four, showing an email confirmation from the official NCAA purchase process. Student General Admission ticket price:  $40.

Why take the bus? Norwalk-based priceline.com is reporting that the national average airfare to Dallas/Ft. Worth is around $340, but the average round trip airfare from Bradley International Airport is $604.  By comparison, the average round trip fare from the home cities of the other Final Four are less - Jacksonville is $541, $584 from Wisconsin, and $385 from Lexington, priceline.com reported.  The average rate for an economy or compact rental car at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport is $60 a day for the weekend dates.

Online ticket aggregator TiqiQ reports that the average ticket price for the two semi-final match-ups on Saturday, as of April 2, is $1,091.81.  (A ticket for just one of the semi-finals runs averages about $595.) The Championship Game ticket for next Monday night is going for an average of $580.70.  That’s a slight drop from earlier in the week, but an increase of about 20 percent over the ticket price a week ago, before the four contenders for the National Championship were determined.

PrimeSport, the Official Ticket Exchange of the NCAA Final Four, lists available tickets ranging from $335.75 in the upper deck of the AT&T Arena to $4,037.50 in Row U facing mid-court.  There remain tickets available.

Compared to the last four years, this is shaping up as the second-most expensive price for NCAA tournament tickets to the final four, behind only last years’ Final Four in Atlanta, Forbes magazine reported this week. Last year, the average price for the semi-final game was $887, which was driven up by three big programs in Louisville, Michigan, and Syracuse, in addition to Wichita State. The lowest price for final four tickets over the last four years was 2011, the last time UConn won the national championship, the magazine reported.

Students holding the prized $40 tickets will not be able to resell them on the secondary market, TIME magazine reported this week. Students from the Final Four competitors - UConn, Wisconsin, Florida and Kentucky - must provide valid student ID’s, verification of purchase, and the originating credit card to gain entry to the Final Four stadium.

The Final Four at AT&T Stadium is expected to bring the largest crowd ever to attend a NCAA tournament game college basketball game. The previous record was the 75,421 people that saw the 2011 Final Four semifinal games at Houston's Reliant Stadium. This year’s Final Four may also break the all-time college basketball attendance record of 78,129, Huffington Post reported.

As for the return trip for the 51 UConn students taking the bus from Storrs, there are two scenerios: should UConn lose on Saturday, the bus will depart from Arlington at 9:00AM on Sunday, April 5. If the Huskies advance to the championship, the bus will depart from Arlington at 8:00AM Tuesday, April 8.  Sleep deprived, at the very least.

Investor Opportunities in Mobile Technology, Consumer Products Focus of Back-to-Back Conferences

It is described as “the Biggest and Most Disruptive Platform in Human History,” by William Davidson, Senior Vice President of Qualcomm.  Davidson will be the keynote speaker Wednesday in New Haven at “Connecticut Mobile Summit – Exploring Mobile Venture Opportunities and Challenges.”  Connecticut’s top mobile industry executives will be meeting to discuss how to accelerate mobile adoption, engagement and monetization, according to conference organizers.

Conference officials note that “penetration of smart phones into the workplace has been persistent since the iPhone launch in June of 2007. More recently, tablets have supplanted PCs as productivity boosters.”  The Connecticut Mobile Summit is designed to help educate Connecticut’s investment and technology communities in mobile venture opportunities and challenges.

In addition to Davidson, expert panelists participating include Carissa Ganelli, Founder & CEO, LightningBuy; Drue Hontz, Founder & President, KAZARK, Inc.; John Nobile, Founder & President, Tangen Biosciences; and Nadav Ullman, Founder & CEO, Dashride.

“In three to five years any enterprise that has not implemented mobility solutions for its customers, employees, and suppliers will be leapfrogged, disintermediated, or go bankrupt. Connecticut cannot afford to be behind this curve,” observed event moderator, Brenda Lewis, Principal of Transactions Marketing, Inc.

Davidson is senior vice president of strategy and operations for Global Market Development in Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. In this role, he handles reporting and operations as well as executing on strategic global business initiatives. In addition, Davidson is senior vice president of investor relations where he serves as the primary liaison with the investment community and Qualcomm shareholders. Davidson has more than 25 years of experience in technical sales, marketing and general management roles in the telecommunications industry.

The half-day conference is being presented by the Connecticut Technology Council, Crossroads Venture Group and AT&T. The event is supported by Mea Mobile.

Opening remarks will come from Bruce Carlson, Acting CEO & President of the Connecticut Technology Council, Liddy Karter, Executive Director of Crossroads Venture Group, and Claire Leonardi, CEO of the recently re-branded Connecticut Innovations.  The event is $40 for members of the Connecticut Technology Council and Crossroads Venture Group, $50 for non-members.

The following day, the Northeast Consumer Product Conference will be held in Stamford, with the Connecticut Technology Council and Crossroads Venture Group joined by the Connecticut chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) as sponsors.  The conference is described as the Northeast’s largest ‘mergers and acquisitions’ conference focused on early state and middle market consumer-facing companies.  It brings together operators, buyers, investors, and transaction professionals to discuss the challenges and opportunities within consumer industries.

The Stamford conference will include expert-led panels reviewing the state of the capital markets and share strategies for consumer marketing in a digital world, for both early and late stage firms.

Keynote presentation will be from Mike McMahon, President, Spire, a Datalogix company.  Panelists for a session on “Raising Capital in Today's Environment,”  to be moderated by Ramsey Goodrich, Managing Director, Carter Morse & Mathias, include Richard Baum, Managing Partner, Consumer Growth, Partners; Christopher Bradley, Principal, Mistral Equity Partners; and Tom Hayes, Managing Partner & Principal, New England Consulting Group.

ACG CT President Karin (McKittrick) Kovacic said, “This conference brings together owners and managers with investors and transaction professionals to discuss the challenges and opportunities within the consumer products sectors.”

The Connecticut Chapter of ACG is one of the fastest growing ACG chapters in the country, with close to 300 local professionals focused on middle-market corporate growth (i.e.: mergers and acquisitions, financing opportunities, business development, joint ventures, licensing arrangements, etc.), including a diverse group of private equity funds, intermediaries, lenders, and service providers.

The Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) is a statewide association of technology oriented companies and institutions, providing leadership in areas of policy advocacy, community building and assistance for growing companies.  With over 2,000 member companies that employ some 200,000 residents, the CTC works to position Connecticut as a leader in idea creation, workforce preparation, entrepreneurial aptitude, early stage risk capital availability and providing on-going support and mentoring to high potential firms.