California Supreme Court upholds Alameda half-cent sales tax increase for child care

Backers of an Alameda County sales tax increase to fund child care are celebrating after a ruling by the California Supreme Court has finally validated the measure, four years after voters approved it.  

Measure C passed with 64 percent of the vote in 2020 but was challenged by the Alameda County Taxpayers Association and others who said it needed two-thirds approval because it was a new tax.  

In a denial of a petition to review a lower court’s decision on Wednesday last week, the court let stand the appeals court decision that the measure was a citizen-led initiative, not a lawmaker-sponsored ballot measure, and therefore needed only a simple majority to pass. 

The 20-year half-cent sales tax increase is expected to generate about $150 million a year, proponents said in a press conference Friday. 

Supporters of the measure included First 5 Alameda County, Parent Voices Oakland, National Union of Healthcare Workers, Service Employees International Union, and other child care advocates.  

Clarissa Doutherd, executive director of Parent Voices Oakland, said the organization was disappointed that the measure faced a legal challenge right as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. 

“It is disheartening that families have had to wait during one of the most traumatic and difficult times, economically, public health-wise, and in our systems, that families and our care workers have had to wait for four years — four devastating years — because a small group decided to target this initiative,” Doutherd said.  

Hundreds of millions of dollars can now be accessed that have been frozen in escrow as the legal challenge unfolded, Doutherd said.  

The Alameda County Taxpayers Association denied in an email that it was responsible for the legal delays, pointing to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ process of delaying the tax collection for more than a year and preemptively suing all county residents to affirm the measure’s legality. The appeals court noted that the Taxpayers Association was the only party that responded to the lawsuit. The group also then filed its own suit challenging the validity of the measure.

It is disheartening that families have had to wait during one of the most traumatic and difficult times, economically, public health-wise, and in our systems, that families and our care workers have had to wait for four years — four devastating years — because a small group decided to target this initiative.

Clarissa Doutherd, Parent Voices Oakland’s executive director

The Taxpayers Association’s president, Marcus Crawley, was critical of the court’s decision as well as a failed challenge with the California Fair Political Practices Commission. 

“In ACTA’s lawsuit, courts gutted Proposition 13 and other longstanding constitutional protections against excessive taxes,” Crawley said. “Judges have cut a huge hole in the financial fence which the people of California in their constitution have erected around their government.” 

The Association had also contended that the participation in the campaign by the late Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan and her chief of staff constituted lawmaker sponsorship and the use of public resources, but the appellate court disagreed. 

The money will be divided into two accounts, with 20 percent devoted to pediatric health care in an account overseen by a citizen oversight committee. The other 80 percent will be dedicated to child care, preschool and early education, to be administered by First 5 Alameda County. The organization must still choose an oversight board that will establish a spending plan.  

“Access to child care and early care and education is crucial for children’s development,” said Kristin Spanos, chief executive officer of First 5 Alameda County.  

The 2020 measure was the second attempt to pass dedicated funding for child care. In 2018, Measure A narrowly failed after receiving 66.2 percent of the vote, just shy of the 66.67 percent majority needed because it was placed on the ballot by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.  

Chan died after being struck by a driver as she crossed a street in Alameda in 2021. Supporters of the measure held a moment of silence at the end of the press conference in her memory.