California groups seek local taxes to offset federal health care cuts

Will a county sales tax increase help local residents? prevent federal cuts in health care? A coalition of health organizations and workers say yes.

As CalMatters’ Ana B. Ibarra explains, Restore Healthcare for Angelenos is pushing to put a measure on the June ballot that would ask Los Angeles County voters to decide whether the county could impose a half-cent sales tax until 2031. The money would go to help residents pay for primary and emergency care and behavioral health needs of people who have lost their Medi-Cal coverage.

The coalition says the proposal would raise about $1 billion a year and is working with Supervisor Holly Mitchell to bring the proposal to the county.

• Mitchellin an emailed statement: “This option is on the table because what is at stake is safety net services falling apart for millions of residents. … This is a last option for the times we face.”

The board is expected to vote on the proposal next month. If it declines to put the initiative before voters in June, the coalition will try to vote in November.

The proposal is one of a handful of initiatives seeking money to offset federal cuts. In November, Santa Clara County voters approved a a similar sales tax increaseand as stands under pressure on Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature for a statewide solution, some progressives and unions are pushing for proposed tax on billionaires to help replenish funds.

The sweeping federal spending plan that President Donald Trump signed last summer cuts nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years to help counter Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which mostly benefit the wealthy. The state will lose $30 billion a year in federal funding, and about 3.4 million Californians are at risk of losing their Medi-Cal coverage in the next few years, according to state health officials.

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Two lawsuits pending in federal and state courts accuse Meta, Google and other tech companies of purposefully designing their social media sites hook young users, leading to mental health riskswrites Colin Letcher of CalMatters.

Although the two cases differ slightly, both share a similar basic argument that social media managers – despite knowing the potentially harmful effects their products can cause to children and teenagers – sell their products to these users.

During the litigation, the cases revealed illuminating internal conversations within the companies. In a 2016 email from Mark Zuckerberg, for example, Meta’s CEO wrote that “if we told the parents of the teenagers about their live videos, it would probably ruin the product from the start.”

Defendants in the federal case argued during a hearing this week that a judge should dismiss the case, and a decision on that motion is likely to be made in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, a related state case went to jury selection this week. TikTok and Snap are reported to be reached undiscovered settlements with the plaintiff, an unnamed Californian man who said his addiction to social media damaged his mental health, though Meta and Google are continuing as defendants.

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The California Supreme Court issued a ruling Thursday that said bulk marijuana in a car does not violate the state’s open container laws and does not give the police the right to search a vehicleCalMatters’ Nigel Duara reports.

The lawsuit stems from a case in Sacramento where officers stopped a car and noticed a rolling tray inside the vehicle. Officers then searched the car and found 0.36 grams of marijuana crumbs on the floor of the back seat. The driver was not driving erratically, had no issues with his registration or license, and had no warrants issued.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said marijuana in a car must be in an “immediately usable state,” such as already rolled into a joint, to be considered a violation. According to the court, spilled marijuana on the floorboards of the car was more like spilled beer. The court also rejected law enforcement’s argument that the driver’s nervousness and possession of a rolling tray was sufficient reason to search the car.

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On Thursday, the mayor of San Jose announced his candidacy for governor of California. Matt Mahan, a moderate Democrat and former tech entrepreneur, was a supporter of the anti-crime measure Proposition 36 and introduced a plan that would allow the city to arrest homeless people if they refuse multiple offers of shelter. Read more by Jeanne Kuang of CalMatters.