It’s a struggle to find someone who thinks Philadelphia’s tax on sugary drinks has been a good idea.

Yes, according to news reports it raises dozens of millions of dollars, which have been funnelled into pre-kindergarten classes, community schools for older students and repair parks, recreation centers and libraries.

But at what cost? The city’s retailers reported in early 2017 that the tax had pinched them in the pocketbook, to the tune of a more than 10 percent decline in sales.

That’s not a pinch that hits the global manufacturers of these beverages, like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, who have turned Americans’ taste for sugar water into a $10 billion industry here in the US. It hits the mom-and-pop retailers the hardest, and that’s a shame.

But those opposed to the tax have now taken their campaign against it a step too far. A bill up for consideration in the state House — HB 2241 — seeks to stop local communities across the state from imposing local fees or taxes on the distribution of food and beverages.

The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Allegheny, isn’t just an assault on Philly’s soda tax — it’s an assault on the agency of local governments across the commonwealth and should be rejected by the General Assembly.

Unfortunately, it seems like many state legislators — including some from Butler County, who spoke at Friday’s Legislative Breakfast at Butler Country Club — are itching to make this bill a priority.

Do they need to be reminded of their own abysmal record of governance these past few years?

Late budgets; incomplete budgets; months-long political sideshows that resulted in credit rating downgrades for the state and forced school districts to take out loans in order to make payroll and keep kids in the classroom, costing taxpayers even more in interest payments.

These are the people who want to cast the commonwealth’s tradition of local governance aside and demand municipal officials rely on Harrisburg to solve their financial problems?

Don’t make us laugh.

Legislators may not like or agree with Philadelphia’s soda tax — we wouldn’t want it in our communities — but what they’re willing to do in order to strike it down is a pointed reminder of how badly Harrisburg has lost its way.

Assaulting the power and prerogatives of local government in order to score political points with corporate interests is repugnant and short-sighted.

We’re reminded of another ill-conceived piece of legislation — HB 1405, which was thankfully consigned to committee more than a year ago and hasn’t seen action since.

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Aaron Bernstine, R-10th, would have stripped communities from the power to use the proceeds of local electric utilities to pay for public services.

As with the anti-soda-tax legislation, Berstine’s bill was an inappropriate way to deal with a real problem — namely that a local utility was gouging residents and using utility charges as a tool to plug budget gaps.

These are battles that should be fought at the local level, not in Harrisburg. Stripping away communities’ power to deal with their own financial problems is bad governance. It’s arrogant and misguided and flies in the face of the limited government philosophy that Republicans say guides them day in and day out.