A closer look at half-cent sales tax hike, Measure R

What about the second subway that the MTA wants to build from Hollywood to Beverly Hills?

The agency's staff has said that the Wilshire route should be built first. There is no money in Measure R for the second line.

Does the 1998 ballot measure approved by voters that prohibits sales tax money from being used for subway tunneling apply to Measure R?

No. The 1998 ban remains in effect, but applies only to the 1980 and 1990 sales tax increases. Measure R, in effect, creates a new pot of money and one of the co-writers of the 1998 ban, county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, supports Measure R and the subway addition.

Can the MTA board change the spending plan?

Yes. State law would have to be changed to divert the minimum amount of funds guaranteed for projects such as the subway, Expo Line and Gold Line Foothill extension, according to the MTA.

A supermajority of MTA board members could vote to move money between other projects, with some restrictions.

Can the Legislature raid Measure R funds?

No. The money would belong to Los Angeles County. The Legislature can, however, continue to keep gasoline sales tax money that Sacramento is supposed to send back to counties.

Who is for and against Measure R?

There is a healthy list of elected officials on both sides of the issue. Editorials among daily newspapers have varied -- The Times, the Daily News, the Daily Breeze and La Opinion are for Measure R and the Press-Telegram, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and the Antelope Valley Press are against, to name a few.

The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce support it.

Among prominent politicians, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) have been the most vocal proponents.

Supervisors Mike Antonovich, Don Knabe and Gloria Molina have been fighting the measure, saying the MTA's spending plan favors the Westside and denies other parts of the county their fair share of sales tax revenues.

The MTA and Measure R supporters rebut that, pointing to a variety of projects that would be built in different parts of the county.

If Measure R doesn't pass, how much money does the MTA have for new projects?

Both sides agree that hardly any big projects would be completed because of a shortage of local, state and federal money for transportation.