Stop Subsidizing Childhood Obesity Act

Bill: 118-s-5640
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2024-12-20
Policy area: Taxation
Latest action: action_date: 2024-12-20
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5640 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 20 (legislative day, December 16), 2024 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself and Mr. Booker ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect children’s health by denying any deduction for advertising and marketing directed at children to promote the consumption of food of poor nutritional quality.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Stop Subsidizing Childhood Obesity Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly one-fifth of children and adolescents ages 2-19 have obesity. Black and Hispanic children and adolescents have higher rates of obesity than white children and adolescents. Children and adolescents from families with an income at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level also have higher rates of obesity compared to children and adolescents whose family income is more than 350 percent of the Federal poverty level. (2) A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that if the child and adolescent population of the United States continues on its current trajectory, a majority of today’s children will be obese by age 35. (3) Health-related behaviors, such as eating habits and physical activity patterns, develop early in life and often extend into adulthood. Overall, American children and youth are not achieving basic nutritional goals. The diets of American children and adolescents depart substantially from recommended patterns that put their health at risk. They consume excess calories and added sugars and have higher than recommended intakes of sodium, total fat, and saturated fats. (4) According to a 2012 report from the Federal Trade Commission, the total amount spent on food marketing to children is about $1,800,000,000 a year. (5) Companies market food to children through television, radio, internet and social media, magazines, product placement in movies and video games, schools, product packages, toys, clothing and other merchandise, and almost anywhere a logo or product image can be displayed. (6) According to a comprehensive review by the National Academy of Medicine, television food advertising affects children’s food choices, food purchase requests, diets, and health. (7) A 2006 report from the National Academy of Medicine confirmed that marketing of high-calorie foods to children and adolescents has been identified as one of the major contributors to childhood obesity. (8) Nearly all foods advertised on television programming intended for children are for products high in nutrients to limit , as determined by the Federal Interagency Working Group, including saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, and sodium. According to research from the University of Illinois Chicago, children under 12 still see more than 1,000 food-related ads a year, most of them for unhealthy products. (9) Food and beverage companies disproportionately target advertising for many of their least nutritious brands to black and Hispanic youth, which contributes to health disparities. According to a study from the University of Connecticut, Black youth viewed 75 percent more ads than their white peers. The study also showed that disparities in racial and ethnic targeted advertising are widening. In 2012, Black preschoolers, children, and teens saw approximately 60 percent more fast-food ads than their White peers, and in 2019, they saw approximately 75 percent more. Additionally, in 2019, fast-food restaurants spent $318,000,000 to advertise on Spanish-language TV, a 33 percent increase from 2012. The number of ads viewed by Hispanic preschoolers and children increased 2 percent and 7 percent respectively over the 7 year period, in contrast with a decline in ads viewed by preschoolers and children overall during the same time period. (10) According to a 2015 study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, eliminating the tax deduction for television advertising expenses with respect to advertisements for unhealthy food and beverages that target children could reduce childhood obesity and save approximately $350,000,000 in healthcare costs over the course of a decade. 3. Denial of deduction for marketing directed at children to promote food of poor nutritional quality (a) In General Part IX of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 280I. Denial of deduction for marketing directed at children for food of poor nutritional quality or brands primarily associated with food of poor nutritional quality (a) In General No deduction shall be allowed under this chapter with respect to— (1) any marketing primarily directed at children for food of poor nutritional quality or brands primarily associated with food of poor nutritional quality , and (2) any of the following which are incurred or provided primarily for purposes described in paragraph (1): (A) Travel expenses (including meals and lodging). (B) Goods or services of a type generally considered to constitute entertainment, amusement, or recreation or the use of a facility in connection with providing such goods and services. (C) Gifts. (D) Other promotion expenses. (b) Definitions For purposes of this section— (1) Brand The term brand means a corporate or product name, a business image, or a mark, regardless of whether it may legally qualify as a trademark, used by a seller or manufacturer to identify goods or services and to distinguish them from the goods of a competitor. (2) Child The term child means an individual who is age 14 or under. (3) Directed at The term directed at includes the use of measured media if the audience for such media will consist of 25 percent or more of children. (c) Marketing For purposes of this section, the term marketing means all advertising and promotional techniques, including— (1) advertising (including product placement) on television and radio, in print media, in social media, mobile media and apps, and on the Internet (including third-party and company-sponsored websites), (2) product packaging and labeling, (3) advertising preceding a movie shown in a movie theater or placed on a video (DVD or VHS) or within a video game or mobile application, (4) promotional content transmitted to personal computers and other digital or mobile devices, (5) advertising displays and promotions at the retail site, including preferential placement, (6) specialty or premium items distributed in connection with the sale of a product or a product loyalty program, (7) character licensing fees, toy cobranding and cross-promotions, (8) sponsorship of events, (9) celebrity endorsements, and (10) in-school advertising including corporate-branded materials, corporate incentive programs, label redemption programs, fundraisers, signs, scoreboards, posters, vending machine fronts, in-school TV and radio, corporate sponsorships, and market research activities. (d) Regulations Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission, shall promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, including regulations defining the terms directed at children , food of poor nutritional quality , and brand primarily associated with food of poor nutritional quality , based on the National Academy of Medicine report described in section 3(b) of the Stop Subsidizing Childhood Obesity Act , for purposes of this section. . (b) Study by national academy of medicine (1) In general Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall enter into a contract with the National Academy of Medicine to develop procedures for the evaluation and identification of— (A) food of poor nutritional quality; and (B) brands that are primarily associated with food of poor nutritional quality. (2) Report Not later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this section, the National Academy of Medicine shall submit to the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) a report that establishes the proposed procedures described in paragraph (1). (c) Clerical Amendment The table of sections for part IX of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new item: Sec. 280I. Denial of deduction for marketing directed at children for food of poor nutritional quality or brands primarily associated with food of poor nutritional quality. . (d) Effective Date The amendments made by this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in taxable years beginning 24 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 4. Additional funding for the fresh fruit and vegetable program In addition to any other amounts made available to carry out the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program under section 19 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1769a ), the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall, on an annual basis, transfer to such program, from amounts in the general fund of the Treasury of the United States, an amount determined by the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) to be equal to the increase in revenue for the preceding 12-month period by reason of the amendments made by section 3 of this Act.