Measure H | Los Angeles Elections | March 7, 2017

Adds a 0.25% sales tax in LA County to aid in relieving the Homeless population

This post contains the personal research of a local LA resident (bio at the bottom). She summed up her own research and is sharing it in the hope that her summary and reasoning helps others make their own decisions about how to vote (rather than just randomly filling in Yes or No).
This post is not sponsored in any way, but it is liberally biased.

The following measure will appear on the ballot of anyone in LA County.

Measure H

My Summary:

Adds a 0.25% sales tax in LA County, which would expire after 10 years. The proceeds will be used to tackle both the causes and effects of LA’s homelessness problem. Methods would be via mental healthcare, substance abuse treatment, health care, education, job training, housing subsidies, and other supportive services. Would generate about $350M annually. Requires a 2/3 vote to pass.

My Vote:

YES

More details:

In November we voted Yes to pass Measure HHH, which will fund the construction and renovation of thousands of units of “homeless housing”.

Measure HHH will eventually be a great help in easing the homelessness problem. However, housing takes quite some time to be designed and built. And in the meantime, there are still over 46,000 homeless residents in LA County that are in need of supportive services.

So in this upcoming election, Measure H is hoping to help take care of the immediate problem by lending support to currently homeless individuals. Plus, later down the line, it will also support the future residents of the Measure HHH buildings.

My reasoning:

First of all, there have been no official arguments filed in opposition to Measure H. So it seems like pretty much everyone is down with it.

But still, here are more thoughts on it:

In terms of levying taxes, I’m coming to realize that slapping taxes on things here and there is not always a good solution for long-term problems that will need continuous funding. Otherwise we’d be adding 0.25% here and there and everywhere and soon we’d be paying 30% sales tax and people would start driving outside of the county to buy things (thus decreasing LA’s tax revenue).

That being said, it does make sense to me to add “temporary taxes” for emergency situations that we don’t expect to have continuously (at least, we hope not to).

Homelessness is obviously a huge problem in LA County. With over 46,000 homeless, it’s definitely gotten to a state of emergency.

So I voted yes on HHH and will be voting Yes on H if it means we might solve this desperate problem faster.

How Others Are Voting

YES

NO

Resources

Fact Checking

If you have new facts to present, or think I got something wrong, email me at electionstudyguide@gmail.com. Hint: Nice emails get replies.

Lucy Fairweather

About the author:
Just want to give a little background so you can get a feel for who I am and whether you might be interested in voting similarly to me. I’m a first generation American (English parents), I went to public school in Santa Monica, and later attended UC Berkeley. I’m in my early 30s, currently am a renter in Venice Beach, and own a small business in Los Angeles.

I’ve never been very political, but the election results of 2016 have really compelled me to get informed and involved. In the past I have voted quite liberally, both financially and socially. However, I voted for Hillary in the primaries (rather than Bernie), so I wouldn’t say I’m super far left.

I’m always open to hearing new facts and opinions, as long as they are presented in a respectful manner. So feel free to comment.

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