San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, joined by county law enforcement and prosecutors, is backing a last-minute sales tax to protect Santa Clara County’s public hospitals from massive federal cuts.
It comes after Mahan — along with the county’s Deputy Sheriffs Association and Government Attorneys Association — initially cast doubt and uncertainty about his stance on Measure A, the county’s proposed five-eighths cent sales tax increase on the Nov. 4 ballot. Now they’re set to announce their support at a news conference later today. Meanwhile, the sheriff and prosecutor unions say they’ve fundraised a total of $600,000 to date to campaign in favor of the ballot measure.
The measure would combat President Donald Trump’s July approval of sweeping cuts to funds that feed the county’s four public hospitals and 15 health clinics. But the proposal has opened a rift in Silicon Valley, with business interests either opposed or neutral on higher taxes and community groups urging against the loss of timely medical care for the region’s poorest. Mahan questioned the county’s choice to get into the hospital business after the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved the measure in August. Meanwhile, the public safety unions questioned whether the tax measure would leave them to fend off their own county budget cuts without extra help…