LAS VEGAS (KSNV MyNews3)--Joshua Brown was hungry after his convention center shift, so he opted for some hearty sized hamburgers from a fast food restaurant.
“It's almost 8:30 at night and we just don't have the time to make dinner when we get home,” Brown said.
And he’s not keen on Assemblyman Harvey Munford’s proposed five cent tax on fast food items that are more than 500 calories.
“What I do with my body is up to me and if other people want to go make themselves fat on fast food everyday that's their choice,” Brown said.
Munford says he’s trying to fight against obesity of young people and also hoping families will think twice about the frequency of going to fast food restaurants.
“All I’m saying is that sometimes you can find a better way of providing a real healthy and nutritious meal for a family than always relying on some of your fast food places,” Munford said.
A lot of items listed on nutrition guides are over 500 calories, and it starts to get tricky when you start combining meals on the menu. We asked the Assemblyman about that.
“You pose a very good question? I think maybe I could make some adjustments in the language when I put this bill together and look at that,” Munford said.
Patrick Walls, President of Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop says this would especially put a strain on his franchised restaurants.
“When our consumers come into the restaurants and they see that their favorite sandwich costs an extra nickel or ten cents or quarter or whatever the tax ends up being, were afraid we may end up losing business for our franchisees,” Walls said.
Lobbyist Dean Heyl with the International Franchise Association says the timing of this awful in Nevada. He says it would be hard for families trying to stretch their dollar.
“And the lower the income they are going to get hit harder that that's what we're saying. It’s a regressive tax,” Heyl said.
Munford says he’d like the tax to go toward UMC and education.
