Los Angeles County voters will decide in June whether to approve a half-cent sales tax increase that helps plug gaps in healthcare services and insurance coverage created by cuts in Medi-Cal created by Congress and President Donald Trump.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to place the sales tax measure on the June primary ballot after a lengthy discussion and public testimony from dozens of residents and civic leaders on Tuesday, Feb. 10. The board voted 4-1, with Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, the lone Republican, voting no.
Cuts from House Resolution 1 law (“Big Beautiful Bill”) approved in July will reduce the county healthcare funding by $2.4 billion over the next three years, removing hundreds of thousands of low-income residents from federal healthcare coverage, while stripping funds from county Department of Health Services and Department of Public Health for medical services provided by 24 clinics, numerous county hospitals and also prevention services such as vaccines and ocean water testing.
The motion was sponsored by Second District Supervisor Holly Mitchell, co-sponsored by First District Supervisor Hilda Solis and supported by a coalition of labor, clinic operators and county workers. The two supervisors said this is a way for voters in the county to ensure healthcare access, while preserving an estimated 64,000 jobs that would be lost.
“This motion gives the voters a choice: Are you willing to support this half-cent general sales tax increase? From my perspective, there is no other option for Los Angeles County to close a $2.4 billion gap from H.R.1,” said Mitchell.
The Essential Services Restoration Act for L.A. County would raise about $1 billion per year for county healthcare services. The tax would sunset Oct. 1, 2031.
Cuts to Medicaid, known in California as Medi-Cal, affect 3.3 million low-income county residents who rely on Medi-Cal. Hundreds of thousands in the county may lose coverage as a result of cuts, and also from new rules that include renewing coverage every six months rather than each year, work requirements, and reductions in how much will be covered for non-citizens, according to CalMatters.
In addition, the county would experience reductions in healthcare services provided to its residents due to cuts in federal funding. And those who lose benefits would flood both county and private hospital emergency departments, said Mitchell.
The federal cuts will result in losses of $750 million over the next three years from the county’s Department of Health Services (DHS). About 70% of the DHS budget comes from federal funding and federal cuts would be “catastrophic,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, DHS director.
Unless the gap is filled, the county will experience reduced services in emergency rooms and at 24 county clinics, including possible clinic closures. The hospitals that would be hit hardest without stop-gap funds are Los Angeles General Medical Center, Olive View Medical Center, Rancho Los Amigos and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the motion stated.
A man joins Los Angeles County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Holly Mitchell as they advocate for a half cent sales tax measure to fund the federal Medicaid cuts that will affect Los Angeles County residents during a press conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)Ghaly said county residents who no longer have Medi-Cal benefits and don’t get care at clinics will have no choice but to go to county hospital emergency rooms, causing what the motion called “an overcrowding crisis.”
The county DHS provides 250,000 emergency department visits each year, from car accidents and other trauma. These are not just Medi-Cal patients but people from across the county who need emergency care at the nearest trauma center.
“That will touch everybody,” Ghaly said. “(Cuts) will increase pressure on hospitals and anyone seeing care, even at the private hospitals.”
Also, the county DPH has already lost $40 million in federal funding and may lose another $60 million in the coming weeks, said Barbara Ferrer, DPH director. Federal cuts will take away up to $300 million from the department over three years, affecting community clinics and communicable disease tracking, she said.
These services are provided across the county and to 86 of the county’s 88 cities. Only Long Beach and Pasadena have their own public health departments.
Solis said the DPH provides vaccines, including those for measles. They also track the infected individual as to their whereabouts, and notify those who may have been exposed. There have been three cases in Los Angeles County and two cases in Orange County as of Tuesday.
Dr. Charles Goodman vaccinates 1-year-old Cameron Fierro with the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine in Northridge in 2015. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)Mitchell said L.A. County will be hosting major sports events drawing millions to the area, including this weekend’s NBA All-Star Game, next year’s Super Bowl, the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 summer Olympics and Paralympic Games.
“Imagine if we had no public health system to control communicable disease outbreaks and prevent bioterrorism attacks,” Mitchell asked.
While the supervisors agreed that the reduction in services hurts the entire county and the cities therein, many were hit by a barrage of emails and texts from those who were concerned that the 0.5% sales tax increase would dip further into resident wallets. Complaints against the measure came from the cities of Bell, Glendale and Norwalk.
Some were concerned that the tax would put them over 10% in sales tax, affecting residents affordability. Mitchell countered that sales tax does not apply to groceries or prescription drugs.
“The half-cent sales tax for five years will cost me 50 cents for every $100 I spend,” she said.
The City of Glendale opposed the measure, saying in other general taxes, i.e. for homeless services, the city did not get its fair share.
Norwalk officials said raising the sales tax means their city, already at 10.5%, will reach 11%. They were concerned shoppers would go to neighboring cities with a lower sales tax.
Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn said the city of Commerce is concerned the extra half-cent may drive shoppers at The Citadel south to Orange County.
Supporters join Los Angeles County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Holly Mitchell as they advocate for a half cent sales tax measure to fund the federal Medicaid cuts that will affect Los Angeles County residents during a press conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)Other cities were concerned about not being able to raise their own sales taxes if the county measure passes because they will be close or even with a state cap. LA County is working to approve a state bill to allow exemptions from the cap for cities.
Supervisor Barger, who voted no, wanted to see the state Legislature and governor do more to help bail out counties affected by H.R.1. “The state should have taken the lead,” she said, saying state legislators and other state leaders have been silent on the issue.
State funding reductions in healthcare are exacerbating the issue. Due to budget constraints, California rolled back health care coverage for undocumented immigrants and reduced funding for other initiatives.
In January, the California Department of Health Care Services stopped enrolling new adult patients without legal status in its state-funded health care program, Medi-Cal. The state is expected to cut non-emergency dental care for immigrants here illegally who are already enrolled in the program.
State officials agreed to enact a $30 monthly premium starting in July 2027 for immigrants who remain on the program, including those with legal status.
Federal dollars do not support these initiatives, as using federal funding for those here illegally is against the law.
A similar sales tax hike was approved in November by voters in Santa Clara County to address reductions in federal funding on health care, and some labor unions are pushing for a proposed statewide billionaires tax to support the health care system.
If approved by county voters, the proposed measure would further establish a nine-member citizens’ oversight committee to ensure fiscal accountability for any revenue raised, which involves annual independent audits and making recommendations on how to allocate the funding.
Committee members would serve three-year terms and they would be eligible for reappointment by the Board of Supervisors.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has criticized the proposed sales-tax measure.
“The sales tax is already too high in Los Angeles County, so high that the most recent half-percent increase for homelessness services required special legislation from the state to allow it to exceed the cap on local sales taxes that is in state law. Raising the sales tax again is unreasonable and unfairly harsh on those who are least able to afford it,” the association said in a statement.
The organization is working to qualify an initiative constitutional amendment to rescind recently approved special taxes and ensure a two-third vote requirement for all local special taxes.
City News Service contributed to this report
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