Supporters of Measure B reported raising more than $3.4 million by Oct. 28, giving the proposed countywide half-cent sales tax a well-financed push as San Diegans weigh a measure that would fund health care, child care, Tijuana River sewage solutions, public safety and food benefits.
The money trail runs through a mix of interests that have lined up behind the campaign: a nonprofit focused on child care access and provider support, local health care organizations, labor unions and two wealthy San Diegans. The nonprofit’s main backer is the Bay Area-based Heising-Simons Action Fund, a sign that the campaign’s fundraising reaches well beyond one corner of county politics.
Mel Katz is one of the clearest examples of that commitment. Early this year, he gave the Yes on B committee two loans totaling $500,000, and he and his staffing company, Manpower, also donated $79,252 to the committee. Katz is joined in the donor roster by Irwin Jacobs, the Qualcomm co-founder and longtime local philanthropist, underscoring how much of the early money has come from high-capacity supporters rather than small-dollar giving.
That backing matters because Measure B is being sold as a way to shore up services that residents will feel directly if the tax passes. The campaign’s pitch ties the tax to health care access and to local responses for child care shortages and sewage problems tied to the Tijuana River, while also promising support for food benefits and public safety. For supporters, the fundraising total is proof the coalition is broad. For critics, a sales tax of one-half cent lands hardest on the households least able to absorb it, especially in South County, where reader comments have called out the measure as regressive.
The health care case is also central to the campaign’s argument. Sharp and Scripps are among the hospital groups worried about the impact of federal Medicaid cuts, which Measure B is designed to help address locally, and the county’s largest labor union has emerged as a leading champion behind the proposal. The measure’s philanthropic and labor support gives it a deep bench, but the next test is whether that coalition can turn money into votes before voters decide whether to give the county another half-cent on top of what they already pay.
