Officials make case for Measure R

With consumers' dollars at gasoline pumps dwindling and draining a federal fund for highway and transit projects, local leaders Monday pushed for a half-percent sales tax to generate $40 billion for Los Angeles County transportation projects. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

The cries come two weeks before voters head to the polls and vote on Measure R - a third county sales tax for roadway and mass-transit needs. Unlike the others, it sunsets in 30 years.

The measure needs two-thirds of voter approval on Nov. 4 and would bump the county's sales tax to 8.75 percent. Leaders said local money raised would turn into a larger sum with federal and state matches and comes at a time when neither will provide enough on its own to meet the gridlocked county's needs.