Alabamians are rising up against a beverage tax proposed by Gov. Robert Bentley as a way to fill a budget hole.

Nearly 300 Alabama small businesses and more than 4,000 Alabama citizens have joined the “Stop the Alabama Beverage Tax” coalition, which was only launched publicly last week.

Alabama is like anywhere else when it comes to soda taxes. Americans just don’t want taxes on common grocery items like beverages. A soda tax has been proposed in more than 30 cities and states and has failed in every instance except for Berkeley, Calif., a very pro-tax city.

Virginia Banister, executive director of the Alabama Beverage Association, told local Fox affiliate WBRC-TV that the tax would costs jobs, hurt small businesses and increase grocery bills.

"We haven't seen the legislation," said Banister. "It can vary from five cents per 12 ounces or one to two cents per ounce. We don't know. This proposed beverage tax is regressive, discriminatory and hard on Alabama families and on their budgets."

The bottom line is – a tax on beverages is not the answer to Alabama’s budget problems: it risks desperately-needed jobs, hurts small businesses that have existed for generations, and raises grocery bills on consumers at a time when many families are struggling. Have more questions about how Alabamians and small businesses are fighting the beverage tax? Visit StoptheAlabamaBeverageTax.com.