Budget Prioritizes City’s Vulnerable

Since May, my team and I have dedicated our time to deliver the City’s budget.

This year’s budget required much more than just solving for our current $800 million deficit. As your Budget Committee chair, I recognized that the federal government’s attacks and impending cuts have put us all into an impossible position. Given this reality, we had to focus on the core mission of city government – keeping people housed, fed and cared for.

Thanks to the partnership between Mayor Daniel Lurie, Board President Rafael Mandelman, our colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, as well as advocacy from labor and community members, this budget delivered for our most vulnerable communities.

This year’s budget:

• Guards against draconian cuts from the Trump administration by putting $400 million on reserve to backfill pending cuts to Medicaid, housing subsidies and food security programs.

• Restores jobs for essential city workers, reversing proposed layoffs, so that we can deliver the services San Franciscans need and deserve.

• Preserves funding to some vital programs and services that impact our most marginalized individuals: our Pacific Islander community; our Native American community; our Transitional Aged Youth; our Trans Youth; our LGBTQ+ community; our seniors; and our immigrant community. The budget restores funds for people living in Single Room Occupancy hotels and legal services for people at risk of losing their housing and other legal rights.

• Balances multiple needs for Our City Our Home allocations – adding $17.3 million for family rapid rehousing for a total of almost $30 million; an additional $9.5 million for transitional aged youth rapid rehousing for a total of $19 million; $3 million for RV intervention and homeless prevention measures; $9 million more for medium term housing totaling $21 million; and an additional $3.4 million for hotel vouchers for transitional age youth and adults. This is all in addition to the mayor’s funding for shelter and hygiene care.

Our City Our Home (Prop. C)

In this year’s budget proposal, Mayor Lurie wanted to reallocate $88 million in interest and unencumbered funds from Our City Our Home (Prop. C) for shelter and hygiene care. But, as many of us know, homeless families, transitional-aged youth as well as those living in RVs need immediate assistance to be housed, not just to be sheltered.

After many hours of conversations with stakeholders, the mayor, his Policy Chief Kunal Modi, the Department of Homeless and Supportive Housing Director Shireen McSpaden and her team, as well as my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, including supervisors Shamann Walton and Jackie Fielder, were able to come to an agreement that balances the needs between housing and shelter.

However, Mayor Lurie’s original proposal also included a clause to allow his office to reallocate any and all funding over projected revenue to any initiatives he prioritizes within the scope of Prop. C funding for the next three years with just a simple majority vote of the Board of Supervisors. Understandably, this clause caused a lot of concern, particularly with strong opposition from supervisors Walton and Fielder.

We addressed this concern by amending the legislation, mainly Section 4, to place a cap of $19 million on the amount of additional revenue that would be eligible for reallocation by a simple majority vote, as well as limiting this authority by ending it after fiscal year 2026-27. Any additional changes to the currently projected and budgeted $370 million of Prop. C funds will still require a supermajority vote from the Board of Supervisors.

I know that these amendments represent a balanced approach. Instead of holding up sorely needed funds with a parliamentary debate, these critically needed funds will be spent now to ensure we invest in programs vital to provide housing for families, transitional-aged youth and giving shelter to people who are suffering on our streets.

Citywide Large Vehicle Policy

In the budget, we also allocated $3 million in additional funding to support housing people living in RVs in our City. Throughout the City, we have seen an increase in families and individuals living in RVs on our streets. This past month, Mayor Lurie and Supervisor Myrna Melgar introduced legislation to limit large vehicles parking to two-hours citywide. These parking limits created a lot of concerns for people living in RVs and those who care after them, and I am one of them.

However, Mayor Lurie’s team and Supervisor Melgar have demonstrated, in good faith, a thoughtful approach, compassionate solutions and willingness to take feedback to provide exemptions to the parking limits. As a result, we will see enforcement to keep our public spaces clean and safe for everyone, but also earnest efforts to house people living in RVs.

This agreement does not mean that I will simply trust the process. It is my job as a policy maker to hold city departments accountable for an ongoing compassionate approach, result-driven solutions and a commitment to hearing feedback and making improvements. So, I will be requesting regular reports to identify gaps for funding and resources that require further policy change.

I supported this legislation as part of the Prop. C funding plan to ensure that we are taking action now. San Francisco voters want us to deliver solutions with public dollars and our City’s most vulnerable cannot wait for the perfect policy, they need the housing relief dollars now.

The Work Continues

This year’s budget may not be something we can all fully celebrate, but we should acknowledge how we have come together despite our differences. Although we may not always agree, we need to work out our disagreements and find common ground to deliver policy solutions. We must continue working together because San Franciscans deserve to have us always speak the truth, advocate in their best interest and work together to meet this moment.

Connie Chan represents District 1 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She can be reached at 415-554-7410 or chanstaff@sfgov.org.