[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2936 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2936

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 17, 2016

Mr. Blumenthal 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Subsidizing Childhood Obesity 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and 
        tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Currently, more 
        than \1/3\ of children and adolescents in the United States are 
        overweight or obese.
            (2) A report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and 
        Trust for America's Health found that if the population of the 
        United States continues on its current trajectory, adult 
        obesity rates could exceed 60 percent in a number of States by 
        2030.
            (3) Health-related behaviors, such as eating habits and 
        physical activity patterns, develop early in life and affect 
        behavior and health in adulthood. The diets of American 
        children and adolescents depart substantially from recommended 
        patterns that put their health at risk. Overall, American 
        children and youth are not achieving basic nutritional goals. 
        They are consuming 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 $2,000,000,000 per year.
            (5) Companies market food to children through television, 
        radio, Internet, magazines, product placement in movies and 
        video games, schools, product packages, toys, clothing and 
        other merchandise.
            (6) According to a comprehensive review by the National 
        Academy of Medicine, studies demonstrate that television food 
        advertising affects children's food choices, food purchase 
        requests, diets, and health. The Academy concluded that the 
        marketing of high-calorie foods to children and adolescents is 
        one of the major contributors to childhood obesity.
            (7) More than 80 percent of the food advertisements seen by 
        children on television are for foods of poor nutritional value.
            (8) A study published in the Journal of Law and Economics 
        and funded by the National Institutes of Health found that the 
        elimination of the tax deduction that allows companies to 
        deduct costs associated with advertising food of poor 
        nutritional quality to children could reduce the rates of 
        childhood obesity by 5 to 7 percent.
            (9) A study published in the Journal of Health Affairs 
        found that the elimination of the tax deduction for costs 
        described in paragraph (8) would save up to $260,000,000 in 
        health care costs and prevent nearly 130,000 cases of childhood 
        obesity over 10 years.

SEC. 3. DENIAL OF DEDUCTION FOR ADVERTISING AND MARKETING DIRECTED AT 
              CHILDREN TO PROMOTE THE CONSUMPTION OF 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:

``SEC. 280I. DENIAL OF DEDUCTION FOR ADVERTISING AND MARKETING DIRECTED 
              AT CHILDREN TO PROMOTE THE CONSUMPTION OF FOOD OF POOR 
              NUTRITIONAL QUALITY.

    ``(a) In General.--No deduction shall be allowed under this chapter 
with respect to--
            ``(1) any advertisement or marketing--
                    ``(A) primarily directed at children for purposes 
                of promoting the consumption by children of any food of 
                poor nutritional quality, or
                    ``(B) of a brand primarily associated with food of 
                poor nutritional quality that is primarily directed at 
                children, 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) NAM Study.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall enter into a 
        contract with the National Academy of Medicine under which the 
        National Academy of Medicine shall 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) NAM 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 a report that 
        establishes the proposed procedures described in paragraph (1).
    ``(c) Definitions.--In 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) Food.--The term `food' shall include beverages, 
        candy, and chewing gum.
    ``(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 
and based on the report prepared by the National Academy of Medicine 
pursuant to subsection (b)(2), shall promulgate such regulations as may 
be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, including 
regulations defining the terms `marketing', `directed at children', 
`food of poor nutritional quality', and `brand primarily associated 
with food of poor nutritional quality' for purposes of this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such part IX is 
amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 280I. Denial of deduction for advertising and marketing directed 
                            at children to promote the consumption of 
                            food of poor nutritional quality.''.
    (c) 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.

SEC. 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.
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