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Board advances major expansion of San Francisco public financing program on first reading
Summary
Supervisor Mar introduced an ordinance to raise public matching from 2:1 to 6:1 (matchable portion limited to $150), increase public fund availability and raise expenditure caps for candidates in the city's public financing program; ethics groups and civic organizations supported the package.
An ordinance to substantially expand San Francisco’s public financing program for municipal campaigns passed first reading on Sept. 17.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced the measure (transcript labels sponsor as Supervisor Marr) as the largest expansion of the city’s public financing program in two decades. The ordinance increases the matching ratio from 2:1 to 6:1 for qualifying small contributions, limits the matchable portion of any individual contribution to $150, increases the amount of public funds available to qualified candidates and raises initial individual expenditure ceilings proportionally. The text also included code cleanup for fundraising periods and reporting thresholds.
Sponsor remarks said the reform aims to amplify grassroots small donations and reduce the influence of large private funds. Supervisor Marr credited the ethics commission and community stakeholders for a collaborative year‑long process and mentioned support from the ACLU, Common Cause, FairVote California, Brennan Center for Justice and the Campaign Legal Center. Marr thanked Ethics Commission policy director Pat Ford, Deputy City Attorney Andrew Shand and community partners who worked on the measure.
The clerk noted that the ordinance requires eight votes of the full board for passage on first reading under the campaign and governmental conduct code section 3.204; members recorded no objections and the ordinance passed first reading. Further committee consideration and subsequent readings will determine final adoption and implementation details.
