(AP) - Advocates are pushing for a new Connecticut tax on sugary drinks, predicting it could raise $145.2 million annually.

Democratic leaders of the General Assembly's Public Health Committee will join the American Heart Association and other groups Monday to advocate for an excise tax on beverages containing added sugar.

They say the tax would generate both positive health and financial benefits for the state.

The groups support a bill that stalled earlier this year which proposed a penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages. The money raised would help pay for a program to help low- and moderate-income families pay for child care, and public outreach about obesity, childhood obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

The new fiscal year is projected to have a $2.3 billion deficit.