Soda Tax Debate Continues After Important Vote

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- While Philadelphia is poised to become the first major city with a soda tax, the battle is not quite over yet. The tax bill goes to a final vote next Thursday and neither supporters nor opponents are letting down their guard.

Mayor Jim Kenney says he's happy with council's vote to advance the bill imposing a 1.5 cents an ounce tax on all sweetened beverages, but he doesn't kid himself that it will be a cakewalk to the finish line.

"They're desperate now, big soda, they've tried every opportunity they can to waylay this effort. They're afraid of what's going to happen nationally."

Indeed, the opposition has seized on one earmark for the soda tax funds -- to temporarily shore up the city's fund balance -- to call into question the strategy that helped this measure advance where others had failed: that the money was for pre-K and public facilities improvements.

The mayor says the fund balance part is a small percentage of the 400 million dollars the tax will raise but the campaign against the tax is likely to renew its attack on that point.