Supervisors split over response to U.S. Supreme Court ruling; public-financing fix fails 6-5

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors debated revisions to the city's public financing rules for nearly three hours before voting 6-5 on an ordinance aimed at bringing the law into compliance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Supporters said the immediate change was necessary to avoid litigation; opponents argued that a narrower, more carefully vetted approach would better protect the intent of public financing. Supervisor Malia Cohen summarized the legal issue for the public: "The Supreme Court, the United States Supreme Court, issued a ruling that has brought our public finance laws out of compliance," she said during the meeting.

The ordinance before the board would have amended the Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code (section 1.144) to remove a provision (commonly described at the hearing as a "trigger") that linked public matching funds to outside expenditures. Proponents including Supervisors Mark Farrell and David Chiu argued removing the trigger was necessary because the Supreme Court's decision made that linkage constitutionally vulnerable. Opponents, including…