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Ethics Commission approves Phase 2 public-finance reforms, sending package to Board of Supervisors
Summary
The San Francisco Ethics Commission voted unanimously to approve a Phase 2 package of public financing changes — including a 6:1 match on small donations (staff recommended matchability up to $100; the Commission adopted $150), higher initial grants and larger spending limits — and will transmit the ordinance to the Board of Supervisors with an operative date of Jan. 1, 2020.
The San Francisco Ethics Commission on a 4–0 vote approved a set of Phase 2 legislative recommendations to expand and recalibrate the city’s small-donor public financing program, directing staff to transmit the ordinance to the Board of Supervisors with an operative date of Jan. 1, 2020.
Pat Ford, the Commission’s policy lead, told commissioners the package aims to strengthen small-donor incentives while keeping the program financially feasible. Staff proposed matching small contributions at a 6-to-1 rate and researched three matchable caps; the staff recommendation examined a $100 cap, and an alternative $150 cap was also analyzed. "This proposal is to extend the $100 limit across the whole program, so that candidates would only ever be able to have up to $100 of a contribution matched," Ford said during his presentation; he also explained that a $150 cap was likely to attract broader consensus while still…
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