{"id":900669,"date":"2026-06-29T11:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T11:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/900669\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T11:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T11:33:15","slug":"so-much-for-affordability-la-voters-raise-their-own-taxes-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/900669\/","title":{"rendered":"So much for \u2018affordability\u2019: LA voters raise their own taxes, again"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was the year of \u201caffordability.\u201d Or so we thought.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, LA County voters chose to pass Measure ER, a 0.5% sales tax increase that ostensibly will last for five years and will apply to almost everything you buy.<\/p>\n

So\u2026 congratulations, you\u2019ll now pay more?<\/p>\n

The Board of Supervisors put Measure ER on the ballot and said the money was needed to fund local health care services.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A polling worker helps direct a voter, right, at Beverly Hills City Hall on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n

They named it \u201cER,\u201d after \u201cEmergency Room.\u201d<\/p>\n

They gave an official title that didn\u2019t mention taxes: \u201cEssential Services Restoration Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

The description<\/a> provided by the county clerk blamed \u201csevere federal cuts enacted by the President and Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, as Marc Joffe explained<\/a> in The California Post, there are no \u201ccuts.\u201d The \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act\u201d just slows the rate of growth in spending. And it adds a requirement that people who receive benefits also work or volunteer, if they are able.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no restraint on the spending side, so the supervisors (with the exception of Kathryn Barger, the lone dissenting vote) decided to go to the taxpayers for more money.<\/p>\n

Several cities across the county protested<\/a>. They pointed out that state legislation to allow such a sales tax increase, AB 1768, had not yet passed.<\/p>\n

But the Democrat-dominated state Legislature did its partisan duty, and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed<\/a> AB 1768 on June 1 \u2014 the day before Election Day.<\/p>\n

For several days, it seemed Measure ER had failed. Just like tax increases on the ballot in San Francisco, San Diego and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

But then more ballots arrived by mail. And just as socialist mayoral candidate Nithya Raman surged to second place, Measure ER was resuscitated from \u201cNo\u201d to \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

LA County voters have now passed three sales tax increases on themselves in the past decade, including two for homeless services (Measure H in 2017 and Measure A in 2024).<\/p>\n

Voters in the City of LA also passed Measure ULA in 2022. The so-called \u201cmansion tax\u201d was supposed to fund affordable housing, but it has been a disaster, drastically reducing new apartment construction in LA while funneling cash to left-wing groups.<\/p>\n

Now, Democrats in Sacramento have struck a backroom deal that will make future real estate tax increases harder to pass, but that leaves Measure ULA in place. (Fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades might get an exemption if a November ballot initiative passes.)<\/p>\n

And legislators have just passed a bill to raise taxes on insurance premiums, to subsidize Medi-Cal (which, thanks to Gavin Newsom and the Democrats, also covers many illegal immigrants).<\/p>\n

So when we complain about \u201caffordability,\u201d we, the voters, should take some responsibility.<\/p>\n

If we care about the cost of living, why do we keep voting to increase it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was the year of \u201caffordability.\u201d Or so we thought. Earlier this month, LA County voters chose to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":900670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[364769,1582,276,364770,1854,2961,20362,224,5337,364476,116239,154239],"class_list":["post-900669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-beverly-hills-city-hall","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-county-voters","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-la","tag-la-county","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-sales-tax-increase","tag-tax-increase","tag-tax-increases"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116833185175514757","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}