Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is the latest lawmaker to propose a tax on beverages, this one on beverage containers, in order to address the city's budget deficit. The legislation would levy a 4 cents tax per container. The proposal was previously repealed after angry Baltimore City residents made their opposition heard.  It didn’t work last time and it will surely fail again, especially given the turbulent economy and high unemployment rates in Baltimore.

A new tax on beverages would impact families, bottlers, beverage distributors and store owners. We wonder how the mayor can justify raising taxes on hard-working families at a time when they are struggling through high unemployment.

Stop the Baltimore Beverage Tax, a coalition of concerned citizens, businesses and community organizations, opposes placing a new tax on beverages.  This group understands that the proposed container tax will hit struggling families and businesses hard during a down economy.

Baltimore City residents, we encourage you to visit http://www.nobaltimorebeveragetax.com/ and join the fight against the mayor's proposed tax.