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Supervisors debate and amend charter amendment to secure Free City College funding; item continued for finalization
Summary
The Rules Committee heard extensive testimony and amendments to Supervisor Jane Kim’s charter amendment to set aside $15 million annually for a Free City College fund. The committee adopted several technical and timing amendments, debated extending the set‑aside from 10 to 20 years, and continued the item for further consideration and final drafting.
Supervisor Jane Kim introduced a charter amendment to establish a Free City College fund that would set aside $15,000,000 annually to make City College tuition-free and fund stipends for eligible students, and place the question before voters in 2019. She said the proposal aims to guarantee funding stability for the Free City program and to preserve a $500 stipend for full‑time students and $250 for part‑time students.
The committee spent the bulk of the hearing on the item in extended discussion. Supervisor Kim described the program’s history, noting the 2016 passage of Proposition W and a two‑year pilot funded through an MOU with the mayor’s office. She told the committee the amendment would initially be written as a 10‑year set‑aside but said she would accept a 20‑year term if colleagues preferred, and pledged to work with the controller and mayor’s budget office to answer outstanding fiscal questions.
Public comment ran more than an hour and a half and featured dozens of students, faculty, union leaders and community groups. Speakers—including representatives of AFT 2121, City College trustees, the youth commission and San Francisco Rising—urged the committee to lock in permanent, predictable funding and many urged a 20‑year set‑aside to ensure program stability and to cover summer terms. Students and instructors described how the Free City program had enabled enrollment and completion and urged attention to inclusion for undocumented residents and part‑time students.
Supervisors debated the legal and budget mechanics of a set‑aside. Deputy City Attorney John Gibner advised that substantive changes would require continuances but said minor technical changes could be drafted for the next committee hearing. Supervisor Norman Yee proposed extending the sunset to give the program a 20‑year life; the idea drew support from colleagues but also calls for additional analysis from the controller’s and mayor’s budget offices.
After discussion the committee adopted a set of technical amendments (clarifying eligibility language, adjusting stipend amounts, and harmonizing multiple references to the sunset date) and agreed to continue the item “to the call of the chair, as amended” so staff can draft finalized language and the controller and mayor’s budget office can respond to fiscal questions. Chair Safaei emphasized there was time for additional review and that the item would be returned to Rules for final consideration before a Board vote.
What’s next: The committee continued the charter amendment as amended for further drafting and review; supervisors expect the item to return to Rules and then to the full Board of Supervisors, where voters would ultimately decide whether to adopt the charter amendment on the ballot.
