California's election watchdog is investigating Santa Clara County leaders over the campaign for a voter-approved sales tax increase.
San Jose Spotlight reports the Fair Political Practices Commission, or FPPC, informed two regional anti-tax groups it would probe the county over allegations of spending public funds on Measure A campaign mailers.
County officials placed Measure A on the ballot as a response to President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.” The federal spending bill gutted the county's largest source of hospital funding.
The mailers didn't explicitly endorse Measure A, but warned of life-threatening hospital closures and jeopardized health care access as a result of a budget crisis stemming from federal cuts.
A December complaint from the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association and Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County said the mailers amounted to "political propaganda." They argue that language should be neutral for voter measures. They claimed the county violated election laws and attempted to scare voters into approving the sales tax increase.
A spokesperson for the FPPC declined to comment.
County leaders reject the complaint. They claim the mailers were purely informational and sent to all county residents, regardless of whether they were registered to vote.