California state lawmakers banned all local taxes on groceries for 12 years on Thursday, including soda and sugary drinks.

The ban was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown after it was rushed through the state legislature.

“I believe Assembly Bill 1838 is in the public interest and must be signed,” Brown said

According to the bill, “’groceries’ means any raw or processed food or beverage including its packaging, wrapper, or container, or any ingredient thereof, intended for human consumption, including, but is not limited to, meat, poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables, grains, bread, milk, cheese and other dairy products, carbonated and non-carbonated non-alcoholic beverages, kombucha with less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume, condiments, spices, cereals, seasonings, leavening agents, eggs, cocoa, teas, and coffees whether raw or processed.”

The bill, dubbed ‘Keep Groceries Affordable Act of 2018’, was introduced in January 2018 and was sponsored by the American Beverage Association.

“Governments should support the voluntary efforts of industry, instead of continuing to pass unpopular and ineffective beverage taxes,” the association said.

This new push by the beverage industry is slowing the expansion of soda taxes in California.

The American Beverage Association said the legislature’s decision would “provide protections for working families, our customers and our consumers” and keep the cost of beverages and other groceries affordable in California.

California’s ban is part of a plan to block a beverage industry ballot measure that would have made it much difficult for cities and counties to raise taxes of any kind.

“The initiative also contains language that would restrict the normal regulatory capacity of the state by imposing a two-thirds legislative vote on what is now solely within the competency of state agencies. This would be an abomination,” said Brown.

The measure sought to increase the voter threshold for cities and counties to levy taxes and fees from a simple majority to a two-thirds vote. It also would have required a two-thirds majority for tax and fee votes by local governing bodies, such as city councils and county boards.

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