SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - A controversial California bill aimed to slim down overweight children by slapping a new tax on popular soft drinks fizzled after receiving a lackluster response from lawmakers.

  State Sen. Deborah Ortiz, who sponsored the proposal to slap a 2 cent per can tax on sodas, said Wednesday she was stripping the tax proposal out of her bill and would now focus on winning new limits on the sale of soft drinks on school campuses.

"I think it's a good compromise," said Ortiz, a Democrat representing Sacramento. "It's a national debate, and there are others that are joining it."

Ortiz original bill had sought to raise revenues for state-funded health and fitness programs aimed at young people, and was among the first proposed laws in the country to target sugary sodas as an underlying cause of childhood obesity.

several U.S. states, including Arkansas, Virginia and Washington, impose excise taxes on soft drinks, though most use the proceeds to fight litter, not the "epidemic" of overweight children in U.S. schools.

But the proposed tax found little support in the legislature, which last year gutted a similar proposal to ban the sale of fast food and soda on campuses after school officials said the loss of food and drink revenues would cause a serious budget crunch.

Ortiz' newly revised bill now seeks to limit soda sales, calling for schools to gradually stop selling soda and sweetened drinks during most of the school day.

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