T-50859 / 2257015_2
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR FROM: NORA FRIMANN
AND CITY COUNCIL City Attorney
SUBJECT: MEASURE A
NOVEMBER 2025 BALLOT DATE: October 24, 2025
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution of the Council of the City of San José taking a position of support on Measure A, a state ballot measure that is qualified for the California special election on November 4, 2025.
BACKGROUND
Recent federal legislation (“H.R. 1”) enacted on July 4, 2025, cut federal support for public services, including substantial reductions for Medicaid (known as Medi-Cal in California) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (known as CalFresh in California).
Santa Clara County (“County”) anticipates more than $1 billion annually in lost revenue due to H.R. 1 that would put access to healthcare and food assistance at risk for thousands of families in the County, including one in four County residents (465,000) relying on Medi-Cal, and 133,000 County residents relying on CalFresh for food assistance. Medi-Cal funding accounts for more than half of all revenue for Santa Clara Valley Healthcare, the County’s healthcare delivery system.
Santa Clara Valley Healthcare operates three of the five general acute care hospitals, the only two trauma centers, the only burn center, as well as 10 major health clinics in San José. San José residents rely on Santa Clara Valley Healthcare when San José residents are in crisis including 60% of 911 ambulance trips from San José and 98% of trauma cases transported by ambulance are taken to a county hospital.
On October 21, 2025, the City Council directed the City Attorney’s Office to prepare a resolution memorializing the Council’s support for Measure A.
ANALYSIS
After declaring a fiscal emergency, the County Board of Supervisors placed Measure A on the ballot for the November 4, 2025, Special Election, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize a retail transactions and use tax (sales tax) of 0.625% (five-eighths of one percent) in COUNCIL AGENDA: 10/28/25
FILE: 25-1175
ITEM: 2.10
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
October 24, 2025
Subject: Support for Measure A State Ballot Measure, November 4, 2025 Ballot
Santa Clara County for a limited period of five years, beginning on April 1, 2026, and ending on April 1, 2031.
The estimated $330 million in annual revenue from the Measure A sales tax would partially offset the loss of federal funding from H.R. 1; as a general tax, the County could use the funds to support Santa Clara Valley Healthcare hospitals and clinics, provide social services, or for any other legitimate governmental purposes.
CONCLUSION
Measure A is qualified for the November 4, 2025, Statewide special election. Approval of the recommendation would result in a resolution memorializing the Council’s support for Measure A.
CEQA
CEQA: Not a Project, File No. PP17-008, General Procedure and Policy Making resulting in no changes to the physical environment.
________/s/__________________
NORA FRIMANN
City Attorney
For questions, please contact Karin Murabito, Senior Deputy City Attorney, at [email protected] or (408) 535-1928.
ATTACHMENT: Rules and Open Government Committee Memorandum
COUNCIL AGENDA : 10/21/2025
FILE : 25-1143
ITEM : 3.6
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND FROM: Toni J. Taber, MMC
CITY COUNCIL City Clerk
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: October 15, 2025
SUBJECT: Resolution of Support on Santa Clara County Measure A
Recommendation
As recommended by the Rules and Open Government Committee on October 15, 2025, direct the City Attorney to draft a resolution of support on behalf of the San José City Council for Santa Clara County Measure A.
CEQA: Not a Project, File No. PP17-008, General Procedure and Policy Making resulting in no changes to the physical environment. (Candelas, Cohen, Ortiz, Campos) [Rules Committee referral 10/15/2025 - Item C.3]
RULES COMMITTEE AGENDA: 10/15/2025
ITEM:
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND
CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Councilmember Candelas
Councilmember Cohen
Councilmember Ortiz
Councilmember Campos
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: 10/09/2025
APPROVED:
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION OF SUPPORT ON SANTA CLARA COUNTY MEASURE A
RECOMMENDATION
Direct the City Attorney to draft resolution of support on behalf of the San Jose City Council for Santa Clara County Measure A.
ANALYSIS:
The City of San Jose should support Measure A, a temporary countywide sales tax increase of 5⁄8 of a cent for five years, to help shore up critical health and safety net services in the face of massive federal aid cuts that could have devastating impacts on our residents.
Recent federal legislation (H.R. 1) includes sweeping reductions to Medicaid and food assistance, threatening more than $1 billion annually in funding for Santa Clara County’s health system. Our county’s safety net hospitals and clinics serve patients regardless of insurance status, and many San Jose residents depend on them. We must play our part in preserving those services. Measure A is designed specifically to respond during a fiscal crisis—it is not permanent. The five-year sunset ensures that this tax is temporary, a bridge while broader structural solutions are pursued.
A collapse or severe cutback in county health services would have ripple effects throughout the region: more stress on city hospitals, increased emergency transfers, greater burden on local clinics, and diminished public health. San Jose’s economy and quality of life depend on a healthy, stable county system. Because the funding gap stems from federal cuts—decisions C.3
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
Subject:
beyond local control—there is a moral imperative for all jurisdictions and stakeholders to help fill the gap. San Jose, as a major population and economic hub in the county, must play its role in preserving shared services.
Without the revenues generated from Measure A, our county will have to make impossible choices between cutting other essential services that our residents rely on and maintaining the lifesaving care that their hospitals and clinics provide. Meaningful City-County partnerships, such as combining our efforts to support the unhoused community, will likely deteriorate if the county must make cuts and cannot invest in those programs.
The signers of this memorandum have not had and will not have, any private conversation with any other member of the City Council, or that member’s staff, concerning any action discussed in the memorandum, and that each signer’s staff members have not had, and have been instructed not to have, any such conversation with any other member of the City Council or that member's staff.