Legislator Backs ‘Tippler Tax’
A state assemblyman representing an Eastside district that includes County-USC Medical Center said Thursday he will sponsor so-called “tippler tax” legislation that could help cash-strapped Los Angeles County close its $1.2-billion budget gap.
Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) said such legislation is needed to save the massive hospital, which county officials have threatened to close because of a budget crisis that includes a $655-million health services deficit.
The freshman assemblyman said he expects that the measure, if passed, could bring in as much as $200 million in annual revenues by imposing a 10% tax on all alcoholic beverages sold at restaurants and bars. He is seeking to get it passed as an urgency measure, which would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, and the support of four of five members of the County Board of Supervisors.
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