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Ethics staff propose steep match for small donors and larger initial grants in public financing overhaul
Summary
Ethics Commission staff recommended lowering the matchable contribution to $100 and matching it at a 6-to-1 rate, increasing initial grants and raising spending ceilings for supervisorial and mayoral races; commissioners asked staff to model alternatives (including $150'$200 thresholds) and return with a draft ordinance and BLA analysis.
Pat Ford, senior policy staff for the San Francisco Ethics Commission, presented Phase 2 of a public financing review that would change how the city's clean-money program channels public funds to candidates. Ford said staff's recommendations are designed to "empower small contributions" and encourage candidate participation while reducing the time candidates spend fundraising.
"We are recommending in this report that public funding be available for the first $100 from any contributor," Ford said, and staff proposed matching that amount at a 6-to-1 ratio. The memo presented two alternatives for raising overall public funding caps for supervisorial and mayoral candidates; staff warned that the more generous option would…
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