Santa Clara County’s eleventh hour poll initiative to fight the large federal cuts specified by President Donald Trump’s landmark tax and spending invoice seems to be heading to victory — a lot to the reduction of native officers and advocates who feared the cuts would decimate the county finances and drive vital well being care providers to shut.
The county, which operates the second-largest public hospital and well being care system within the state, is projecting it would lose roughly $1 billion in federal revenues yearly as a result of cuts. Measure A — a proposed 0.625% enhance to the native gross sales tax charge — is anticipated to fill a 3rd of that finances hole, producing $330 million yearly if handed. It should final 5 years, serving to the county climate the worst of the fiscal storm.
As of 9:30 p.m., 57% of ballots forged have been in favor of Measure A. The initiative wants a easy majority to cross.
The poll initiative is a key a part of the county’s efforts to fight the funding loss, which they stated may result in shuttering well being providers or hospitals totally as greater than 50% of the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare system’s revenues come from Medi-Cal — California’s Medicaid program for low-income and disabled residents.
Santa Clara County at present operates 4 hospitals and 15 clinics, with its flagship hospital, Valley Medical Heart, the one twin trauma middle and licensed burn middle in the whole Bay Space.
Michael Elliott, the manager director of the Valley Well being Basis — the well being system’s philanthropic arm — stated in a press release that the outcomes show “what’s possible when a community stands together around a shared purpose.”
“Measure A is more than just policy,” he stated. “It’s about people — our neighbors, our loved ones, the patients who depend on these hospitals every single day. It’s about coming together as a community and saying that access to quality, local health care isn’t a privilege — it’s a right that the federal government cannot take away from us.”
Opponents of Measure A, together with the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Affiliation and the Silicon Valley Enterprise Alliance, have decried the measure, saying that taxes are already too excessive. The native gross sales tax charge is at present 9.125% countywide, and the 0.625% enhance would put Campbell, Milpitas and San Jose at a ten% gross sales tax charge or increased.
The opposition, which was led by former Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar, has additionally decried the county’s resolution to make it a normal gross sales tax — the income raised isn’t restricted to anyone use so the county may apply it to different priorities as a substitute of well being care.
Kumar stated in a press release Tuesday evening that “the people have spoken, and I hope the county will spend the money judiciously.”
Santa Clara County officers stated that they have been on monitor to have 50 to 60% voter turnout, which Registrar of Voters Matt Moreles stated is “high for a special election and may even exceed some regularly-scheduled statewide elections.”
