This is a rebuttal to the South Tahoe Chamber’s position letter published Sunday. The letter written by Brandi Bannister leads its readers to believe that the passage of Proposition 50 would affect the representation of South Lake Tahoe in the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors. This is not true. BOS 5 represent 20 percent of the population of El Dorado County. As of the current census each BOS district has 18,240 residents. In BOS 5 the majority of the those residents live in South Lake Tahoe. Proposition 50 has nothing to do with Supervisor districts. It redraws congressional boundary lines.
Currently the congressional boundary of CD 3 does extend to Folsom, but it does not include the western part of El Dorado County. As a result of the new proposed lines, the majority of El Dorado County will be in the same congressional district.
Why is Proposition 50 occuring? It is happening because other states (particularly Texas) have legislatures that have redrawn their lines without voter consent. Texas has a minority population of 39 percent and yet only 29 percent percent of their districts have minority representation. Their new lines have changed five districts from Democratic to Republican.
What do voters need to know about Proposition 50? If it passes it is temporary and the Citizen Commission will redraw the lines after the 2030 census. It levels the playing field so Republicans do not have an unfair advantage. Proposition 50 reaffirms California’s commitment to independent redistricting in all states. The proposition allows the voters to decide the fate of the proposition on November 4.
Why is a Yes vote necessary? It is necessary to save democracy. The Republicans in congress are rubber stamping the agenda of President Trump, even when it does not represent the best interests of their constituents. As a result of congress passing the “Big Beautiful Bill,” we have seen $1 trillion cuts to Medicaid leaving 12 million Americans without insurance by 2034, slashes to food stamps and cuts to food assistance for school children. Rural hospitals are closing. There are historical rates of inflation, increased medical insurance costs, increased unemployment, and the bill increases the federal deficit by 3.4 trillion dollars. It also cuts assistance to local police at the same time that Trump is sending military to police American citizens in our cities. ICE has a budget of $28.7 billion and 60 percent of the people they are deporting, at great expense, have no criminal records. All of this while giving the wealthiest Americans extensions to their massive tax cuts. This has to stop! The only way it will stop is to elect a congress in 2026 that will stand up to authoritarian rule and protect their constituents.
Vote Yes on Proposition 50. Save Democracy.
-South Lake Tahoe Democratic Club