Supervisors forward commuter-benefits ordinance, add emergency ride-home program and technical amendments

The Budget & Finance Committee on a voice consensus forwarded an ordinance that would require San Francisco employers with 20 or more employees to offer commuter benefits and authorized the Department of the Environment to implement an Emergency Ride Home program.

The ordinance, introduced by Supervisor Macarimi, requires covered employers to provide one of three options: a pre-tax commuter election under Internal Revenue Code section 132(f), an employer-paid reimbursement at least equal to the price of an applicable monthly Muni FastPass, or employer-provided transportation such as a vanpool. Jared Blumenfeld, Director of the Department of the Environment, said the city program already serves about 70,000 employees and noted the local FastPass costs $45: "Normally, it costs $45. Net at the end of the year for me, it costs $27." He cited a TRCP study he described as showing "by offering this benefit ... transit ridership has increased 40% within those businesses." Blumenfeld also described ERH as giving commuters "peace of mind" by reimbursing emergency taxi rides and said ERH increases transit use by about 4–6%.

Public commenters and business representatives urged clarifications. Richard Essey of Tempositions urged language to protect temporary staffing arrangements, saying temporary workers may not meet an eight-hour-per-month test and proposing an exception for staffing agencies. Jim Lazarus of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce recommended raising the coverage threshold to the equivalent of 10 hours per week and tying reimbursements to the appropriate FastPass rate depending on age or disability. Supporters including Stewart Baker (Commuter Check program), Erwin Lum (Transport Workers Union), and Kim Martinson (Transportation Management Association) urged passage and committed to outreach.

Committee amendments read into the record changed the eligibility threshold language to "performed an average of at least 10 hours of work per week for compensation within the geographic boundaries of San Francisco for the same employer within the previous calendar month," corrected a typographical error replacing the word "employee" with "employer" in a definitions clause, struck and replaced language about staffing-agency coverage to avoid unintended inclusion of temporary staffing firms, and capped employer-paid reimbursements at no more than the cost of an adult monthly Muni FastPass (with language to define applicable rates for seniors, youth, and disabled riders). The City Attorney recommended specifying "San Francisco Fast Pass" in the language and adding that government entities are excluded from the ordinance's definition of "employer."

The committee chair stated the item was forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors "without objection" and recommended for adoption with the recorded amendments. The ordinance will return to the full board where the final text, including the attorney's recommended phrasing and any further edits, will be considered.