California voters are delivering a split decision on whether they want to pay more sales tax to support healthcare services: Los Angeles County’s measure is clinging to a narrow lead, while Contra Costa County’s went down in defeat, a divide experts attribute to growing anxiety over the cost of living.
In Los Angeles, Measure ER, which proposes a half-cent sales tax for the next five years, led as of Tuesday evening with 50.59% of the vote. The measure requires a simple majority to pass. Supporters estimate that tax, which would not apply to groceries and medications, could generate $1 billion a year.
The county’s voters historically have been supportive of taxing themselves to fund public initiatives, said Mike Bonin, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles. But Measure ER proved to be a hard sell…