{"id":357304,"date":"2026-06-12T04:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T04:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/357304\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T04:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T04:07:17","slug":"measure-er-backers-celebrate-passage-of-half-cent-sales-tax-for-healthcare-long-beach-post-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/357304\/","title":{"rendered":"Measure ER backers celebrate passage of half-cent sales tax for healthcare \u2022 Long Beach Post News"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published by LAist<\/a> on June 10, 2026.<\/p>\n

Members of the campaign behind Measure ER claimed victory Wednesday, saying the half-percent sales tax in Los Angeles County would help keep hospitals and clinics from collapsing under federal cuts to Medi-Cal.<\/p>\n

Although votes are still being counted, by Tuesday evening, Measure ER had won the support of 50.59% of L.A. County voters, the majority it needs to pass.<\/p>\n

The sales tax increase is expected to raise about $1 billion a year to fund the region\u2019s safety net healthcare system, which faces cuts from the Trump administration\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saved the healthcare safety net in Los Angeles County,\u201d said Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John\u2019s Community Health, at a news conference Wednesday. \u201cWe won, but it was close.\u201d<\/p>\n

Measure ER will raise L.A. County\u2019s sales tax temporarily from 9.75% to 10.25%. The county would start collecting the 0.5% sales tax Oct. 1. It will will sunset in 2031.<\/p>\n

Cuts and changes under the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act\u201d signed into law last year will cost the county\u2019s health departments about $800 million annually, while stripping hundreds of thousands of health coverage, according to Los Angeles County\u00a0projections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Accountability<\/p>\n

The Board of Supervisors voted in February to put Measure ER before voters. L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who introduced it, vowed Wednesday to ensure the revenue it generates is spent as promised.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, today is not a celebration, but more so a declaration of our commitment to be accountable to the public, whether you voted for or against Measure ER,\u201d Mitchell said at the news conference.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a general tax, not a special tax. That means the revenue will go into the county\u2019s general fund and is not legally earmarked for healthcare.<\/p>\n

However, county supervisors approved a\u00a0spending plan<\/a>\u00a0for the Measure ER revenue. It allocates 45% to fund care at nonprofit clinics for uninsured low-income residents, 22% to keep county hospitals and clinics running and smaller shares to the Department of Public Health and Planned Parenthood clinics.<\/p>\n

The measure also establishes a nine-member oversight advisory committee to recommend, review and report publicly how the money is used.<\/p>\n

Kathryn Barger was the lone county supervisor to vote against sending Measure ER to voters, citing cost-of-living concerns. In a statement Wednesday, Barger said her responsibility moving forward is ensuring Measure ER follows through on its promises to voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaxpayers deserve to know how these funds are being spent, whether promised outcomes are being achieved,\u201d Barger said. \u201cI will be a strong advocate for rigorous oversight and fiscal responsibility every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Affordability concerns<\/p>\n

On Election Day, Measure ER had been trailing with about 47% of the vote, but the sales tax shifted into the leading position as votes were counted in the coming days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how important this victory has been, and it has been a nail-biter,\u201d said county Supervisor Hilda Solis.<\/p>\n

The main backer of the ER campaign was St. John\u2019s Community Health, a nonprofit that operates a large network of health clinics in Southern California. The campaign, Restore Healthcare for Angelenos, raised about $9.7 million and had the backing of community clinics and healthcare workers\u2019 union SEIU 721.<\/p>\n

The No on ER campaign committee, led by the L.A. County Taxpayers Association, raised less than $10,000, according to L.A. County campaign finance filings.<\/p>\n

Aidan Chao, chairman of the taxpayers group, said the close race shows rising tax fatigue among L.A. County voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is by no means a resounding endorsement of measure ER from Angelenos,\u201d Chao told LAist Monday. \u201cWe are disappointed that special interests spent $9.7 million \u2014 vastly outspending us \u2014 to pass a tax that will hurt working-class Angelenos the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

Measure ER\u2019s supporters say the tax increase is warranted, to prevent the collapse of the local healthcare system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found ourselves in a situation where we had to ask an already over-taxed community, in the midst of runaway inflation and affordability crisis, to tax themselves yet again,\u201d Mangia said. \u201c\u200aWe would not allow healthcare to be ripped away from the people who need it the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the current threats to L.A.\u2019s healthcare system aren\u2019t just the federal cuts. California moved to freeze new Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented adults starting in 2026 and add premiums in 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a crisis created by both the feds and the state,\u201d Mangia said. \u201c\u200aMeasure ER was a grueling and expensive campaign, but we\u2019re not tired yet. This is just the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article was originally published by LAist on June 10, 2026. Members of the campaign behind Measure ER…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-357304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}