It’s a presidential election year, and the ballot is jam-packed. In San Francisco, there’s a mayor’s race. Six of 11 supervisor seats and 4 of 7 Board of Education seats are up for grabs. There are 15 local propositions, plus City College trustees to choose.
But wait, SF, there’s more: all those state measures and races count too.
Adam Schiff, a prominent Democratic House member, and Republican Steve Garvey are the candidates for the open U.S. Senate seat. Meanwhile, California’s 52 congressional seats could decide control of the U.S. House. GOP challenger Bruce Lou would pull off a shocker just by coming close to Nancy Pelosi’s tally for San Francisco’s seat.
In Sacramento, Democrats hold supermajorities in both state houses. All 80 Assembly jobs and 20 of 40 Senate seats are up for a vote. For SF voters, the Senate choice is either incumbent Scott Wiener or GOP candidate Yvette Corkrean.
SF has two contested Assembly posts. Republican Manuel Noris-Barrera is challenging Democratic incumbent Matt Haney on the city’s east-side 17th district. In the west-side 19th district, which extends into San Mateo County, current Sup. Catherine Stefani is running against fellow Democrat David Lee.
There are also 10 state propositions. Let’s dig into them.
Proposition 2
Money for school repairs: A 2020 Public Policy Institute of California report found that 38 percent of California students attend schools that don’t meet minimum safety standards. Voters were unswayed. That year, a $15 billion school construction bond failed at the polls.
This time, Prop. 2 would provide $8.5 billion to K-12 schools and $1.5 billion to community colleges to renovate, fix, and construct facilities. The money would be distributed as matches for districts that raise their own funds, which critics say favors wealthier districts. As compensation, Prop. 2 will pay a greater share to less affluent districts and those with higher numbers of English learners and foster youth.
Some money would also be set aside to remove lead from water, create transitional kindergarten classrooms, and build career and technical education facilities.
The state bond comes as SF, like many districts, is floating its own bond for school repairs and construction (Prop. A). What was once supposed to be more than $1 billion has been dialed back to $749 million, still one of the city’s largest bonds ever.
Prop. A needs at least 55 percent approval to pass, usually a slam dunk in SF. But anger over SFUSD’s school closures, hiring snafus, and more could throw the vote into question.
Proposition 3
Constitutional protection for same-sex marriage: It’s been 20 years since then-SF mayor Gavin Newsom issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples in defiance of federal bans. In 2013, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.
But backlash against the LGBTQ+ community has never subsided. In 2008, California voters approved Prop. 8 to define marriage as between a man and a woman, and it remains on the books. With the latest wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the country, Prop. 3 would officially repeal Prop. 8 and enshrine the right to same-sex marriage in the California constitution.
Proposition 4
Cash for climate projects: This measure would authorize $10 billion in debt to spend on environmental and climate projects. The biggest chunk, $1.9 billion, would go toward water systems and flood control. The rest would go toward projects that address wildfire and extreme heat; natural lands, parks, and wildlife; and coastal lands, bays, and ocean protection. Some money will be set aside for clean energy and agricultural projects.
The measure doesn’t name specific projects. Meanwhile, San Francisco has begun planning for the threat of sea-level rise. Voters approved in 2018 a small chunk of the cost needed to shore up the city’s Embarcadero seawall, but a grand overhaul is going to need federal coordination.
Proposition 5
Lower bar to pass bonds: Before local governments can borrow money, they need voter approval — typically a two-thirds majority. This measure would amend the constitution by lowering the threshold to 55 percent for bonds that fund affordable housing construction, roads, and other infrastructure.
If it passes, the new cut-off would apply not just to future bonds, but any on the ballot this November. The state legislative analyst says an additional 20 to 50 percent of recent local bonds would have passed with the lower threshold.
Housing advocates hoped Prop. 5 would have helped a $20 billion bond to fund Bay Area affordable construction, but that measure was pulled from the ballot in August.
San Francisco must build 82,000 homes before 2030, and half must be affordable. New state laws close previous loopholes used to circumvent or slow down development. Prop. 5 could make future funding easier, although SF voters have eagerly approved affordable housing bonds in recent years, including one in March.
After hitting political headwinds, Prop. 5 supporters made a few compromises. Unlike its original version, it only covers bonds. And to appease California realtors, the measure won’t let local governments use Prop. 5 money to convert single-family homes into affordable units.
Propositions 6 and 32
Minimum wages: Two ballot measures address wages — one for a specific population and the other for the rest of the state.
Prop. 32 would gradually raise state minimum wage from $16 an hour to $18 an hour. It would start in January 2025 for businesses with 26 or more employees, and in 2026 for those with fewer than 26. Starting in 2027, the wage would be adjusted for inflation.
San Francisco is ahead of the state here. In 2003, SF was the first local jurisdiction to pass a minimum wage rate higher than the federal or state minimum wage. Thanks to a 2014 measure, our minimum wage is $18.67 per hour, and wages adjust each year based on the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index.
Prop. 6 would prohibit the state from “involuntary servitude” in state prisons. Inmates could not be forced to work or disciplined for refusing to work. Colorado, Alabama, Tennessee and Vermont have passed similar laws in recent years.
To replace forced labor, state prisons could set up a volunteer work program that give inmates credits toward reduced sentences. County or city ordinances could also set up a pay scale for inmates in local jails. Right now, state law permits the corrections department to pay up to half the state minimum wage of $16/hour to the 40,000 inmates it employs. Most earn less than 74 cents an hour.
Propositions 33 and 34
Rent fight: Since the mid-1990s, California law has blunted local governments’ ability to apply rent control. In 2018 and 2020, ballot measures failed to overturn this law, called Costa-Hawkins, and unlock broader rent control efforts.
Prop. 33 would try again. SF lawmakers are ready to expand SF rent control, which currently only applies to pre-1979 buildings, with a new law they passed last week. It only kicks in if Prop. 33 wins and would move the cut-off up to 1994 – adding about 16,000 rent-controlled units. Because SF has an abundance of old housing stock, about 70 percent of SF renters live in rent-stabilized homes.
Like the two previous anti-Costa-Hawkins efforts, Prop. 33 is the brainchild of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) founder Michael Weinstein, whose nonprofit has poured more than $100 million into the campaigns. Prop. 34 is apparently meant to keep Weinstein from trying again.
Here’s how: His foundation raises funds through pharmaceutical sales, and the profits fuel its services. Prop. 34 would force at least 98 percent of expenditures from these types of arrangements to go toward “direct patient care” – that is, not toward political campaigns. The measure makes its target quite specific: providers that spend at least $100 million on expenses other than direct care in the past decade, and whose apartment buildings have racked up at least 500 severe health and safety violations. There only seems to be one: AHF.
Proposition 35
Medi-Cal boost: Roughly a third of Californians use Medi-Cal, the state’s public insurance for low-income and disabled residents. But more and more providers won’t treat Medi-Cal patients as reimbursement rates have fallen into the bottom-third nationally.
Prop. 35 aims to boost those rates. Since 2009, California has taxed some managed healthcare providers and can put the money – upwards of $8 billion this year – into the general fund. Prop. 35 would earmark those funds for Medi-Cal: primary and specialty care, emergency services, family planning, mental health, and prescription drugs.
This measure has the backing of many of the state’s medical associations who want the tax revenue to go toward increased payments. Gov. Newsom bucked many allies by opposing the measure, saying it ties legislators’ hands during budget crises like the current one.
Proposition 36
Tough on nonviolent crime: Prop. 36 would reverse some elements of 2014’s Prop. 47, which reclassified some nonviolent crimes as misdemeanors. One of Prop. 36’s changes would eliminate the $950 threshold in merchandise value required to charge a felony for a third theft, which was meant to divert offenders from prison to rehabilitation.
Prosecutors, police, and retailers have blamed the decade-old rule, which also applies to drug possession, for reducing consequences and encouraging more crime.
A recent study says jails are less crowded, and California has diverted $800 million into treatment and rehabilitation programs due to Prop. 47. It also says property crimes have gone up, but other measures have also coincided with the pandemic, making Prop. 47’s effects harder to tease out.
Prop. 36 would also create a new category of crime: “treatment-mandated felony.” People who don’t contest their charges could complete drug treatment instead of going to prison. If they don’t finish treatment, they would face up to three years in prison. Opponents include Gov. Newsom say there’s “not a dollar attached” to the measure for drug treatment.
About a third of respondents to a Chronicle poll this summer said crime and safety was their top consideration in the mayoral election, even as crime rates drop across the board. Violent crime in SF is at a 60-year low.
Mayor Breed supports Prop. 36, as does rival Mark Farrell.
