Alabamians made it clear to their lawmakers that a proposed tax on beverages is not right for their state, and they were heard.

Alabama lawmakers rejected a discriminatory tax on beverages proposed by Gov. Robert Bentley as a way to increase government spending, and Bentley signed on to the budget without it.

The signing ended a budget standoff in which thousands of Alabamians joined the “Stop the Alabama Beverage Tax” coalition to demand that the state stay out of their grocery carts. Coalition members called, emailed and wrote letters to their elected officials to say that a discriminatory tax against one item in the cart is no way to raise revenue.

The campaign gave support to lawmakers trying to hold the line on raising grocery budgets and taxes on hard-working families, and put on notice legislators who were thinking of doing so.

Alabama is like anywhere else in our nation when it comes to soda taxes. Americans just don’t want taxes on common grocery items like beverages. Raising taxes and grocery bills hurts consumers, it harms local businesses and it costs jobs.

As more cities, municipalities and states face budget deficits they are looking to Americans’ grocery carts as a source of revenue. Over the past several years, more than 30 states and cities across the country have proposed or introduced beverage taxes. All have failed except for one in Berkeley, Calif., a very pro-tax city.

It’s time for politicians to focus on what matters most – education, jobs and the economy – and leave the grocery shopping to us.

To learn more about why taxing soda is not the answer visit YourCartYourChoice.com.