Pastor K.W. Tulloss, Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church
Los Angeles, CA — First Corinthians 12:14 says “For the body does not consist of one member, but of many.” In other words, our physical health is connected to one another. That principle should guide public policy as much as personal principle. A society reveals its character by how it treats the sick, the elderly, the poor, and the vulnerable. Health care is not merely an individual concern; it is a collective responsibility.
Every day, we are all called to answer a moral question: will we turn away from our neighbors in their hour of need, or will we stand together and carry one another through hard times? This June, Los Angeles County voters face one of those scenarios. Measure ER offers us an opportunity to affirm health care as a human right in Los Angeles County. It gives us the chance to ensure working families, seniors, children, and vulnerable residents can still access emergency rooms, trauma care, mental health services, and neighborhood clinics when they need them most.
I have prayed with families sitting in emergency rooms long into the night. I have watched church members delay treatment because they feared the cost. I have watched my very own children experience medical emergencies, and I understand the fear families feel when services may not be available in their time of need. I have counseled parents carrying the burden of choosing between rent, groceries, and medicine. These are everyday realities in our congregations.
Measure ER arrives at a time when LA County’s healthcare safety net is under extraordinary strain. Federal healthcare cuts threaten billions in funding losses over the next several years, placing public hospitals, community clinics, and emergency care systems at risk. Without local action, the county could face health care worker layoffs, reduced services, and even clinic closures that would disproportionately impact Black communities and other communities of color.
Black people know what happens when health care disappears – or doesn’t exist at all. We have lived through generations of inequity where access depended too often on ZIP code, income, or insurance status. We know that when hospitals close in underserved neighborhoods, the consequences are felt throughout the community – in lives lost, chronic illnesses untreated, and crises made worse because help came too late.
Measure ER proposes a temporary half-cent sales tax increase for five years to stabilize health care and essential public health services across Los Angeles County. Essential items like groceries and prescription medications would remain exempt, and the measure includes independent audits and public oversight provisions. The measure is expected to generate roughly $1 billion annually to help sustain hospitals, clinics, emergency preparedness, and public health infrastructure.
Now, I understand why some people might be skeptical. Many families are already stretched thin by the rising cost of living. But affordability concerns are the exact reason to support Measure ER, because allowing our healthcare system to collapse under the weight of these cuts would cost us far more.
When clinics disappear, people wait until illnesses become emergencies. When preventive care vanishes, suffering increases – and sometimes people who were working can no longer do so. When emergency rooms are overwhelmed, everybody waits longer for lifesaving care. The burden eventually falls hardest on working people who already have the fewest resources and the least margin for crisis.
The Black church has always stood at the intersection of faith and justice. We have never separated our spirituality from community responsibility. Churches were the backbone of the Civil Rights Movement because we have always understood that defending our rights requires collective action. Today, that same calling remains before us.
Measure ER will not solve every healthcare challenge facing Los Angeles County. But it is a necessary step to protect care for millions of residents and preserve a healthcare system that so many families depend on every day. It says that in Los Angeles County, we will not abandon our neighbors when the pressure mounts.
This June, I urge voters across our churches and communities to vote YES on Measure ER — because dignity matters, because healthcare matters, and because we are called to care for one another by our faith.
