(CNN) -- After learning what was going on across the nation in regulating food and drink, especially the edict by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg banning large sugary drinks, I could clearly see we needed a way to prevent government from placing additional regulation on small business owners in Mississippi. A judge has invalidated Bloomberg's ban on sugary drinks bigger than 16 ounces, which is a good move. But as a state legislator, and a restaurant owner, I wanted to prevent our industry from being regulated out of business. Working with trade organizations, I came up with what's being called the "anti-Bloomberg" bill -- Senate Bill 2687. It simply says that the Mississippi legislature retains the authority to make decisions about the regulation of food.
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Tony Smith, a Mississippi legislator and restaurant owner, wrote the "anti-Bloomberg" bill
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Bill prohibits local jurisdictions from regulating food and drink; only state can do it
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Smith says it will protect small businesses from hodgepodge of local overregulations
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Free market should guide what's sold, he says; other measures can combat obesity
To be clear, @placeholder 2687 does not restrict debate on food policy as it relates to public health and welfare.