The Brief Maryland lawmakers are considering a 2-cents-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks. Maryland lawmakers are considering what’s called the For Our Kids Act, which would impose a tax of 2-cents-per-ounce on sugary drinks, syrups, and powders. Kathy Szeliga (R – Baltimore County) also weighed-in, writing, "I fully support making Maryland healthy again, including efforts to reduce sugary drink consumption. If this new $500,000 tax proposed on sugary drinks was used to lower our total sales tax burden, it would be a win-win by improving health while lowering taxes. Shetty said that if everything goes as planned, the earliest the sugary drink tax could go into effect would be in about a year and a half.