It’s no secret that beverage taxes hurt small businesses and low-income families – take Philadelphia as an example. After a similar tax was recently-passed in Seattle, the CEO of a local beverage company is already speaking out against the decision made by the City Council and Mayor Ed Murray.

A MYNorthwest article reports that Jennifer Cue, CEO of Seattle-based Jones Soda Company, is concerned about the impact this tax will have on her business which she relocated to Seattle from Canada for what she thought would be a friendlier business environment.

“It would be better if we were in Canada right now than in Seattle,” Cue said. “That’s a shocking statement, but it’s true.”

Cue says small businesses already have a hard enough time succeeding, and the last thing they need are government policies that make it harder for them.

“I wish the mayor and the council members could get innovative themselves and create something that wasn’t so anti-business and didn’t consider the small businesses here in Seattle,” she said.

Before passing regressive taxes, politicians should listen to small business owners like Jennifer Cue and think about who their policies will be hurting the most.