Muni Funding Measure Also Qualifies for November Ballot
The “Stronger Muni for All” campaign turned in 18,469 signatures to San Francisco’s Department of Elections in City Hall Thursday morning. The measure only required 10,600 signatures to qualify for the San Francisco ballot.
“Thanks to the incredible dedication of our volunteers and support for Muni across San Francisco, we have submitted far more signatures than necessary to ensure the ‘Stronger Muni for All’ measure is on the November ballot,” said Mayor Daniel Lurie, who joined the group submitting the signatures. “Muni is the lifeline that connects our city. To keep San Francisco’s comeback on track, we need a thriving public transit system.”
“We were excited to join the ‘Stronger Muni For All’ team this morning in their submission of the petition signatures,” said Dylan Fabris of the San Francisco Transit Riders. “Volunteers fought hard to elevate Muni funding as a top priority for the city this year. Together with the regional measure, this will be a critical piece of the puzzle to make Muni whole.”
‘Stronger Muni For All,’ based on a San Francisco parcel tax, would raise an estimated $160 million annually for Muni operations. Also set to appear on the ballot: the aforementioned five-county Regional Measure, which, via a sales tax, should raise about $1 billion annually across all the regional transit systems, including Muni. Together they should stave off devastating Muni cuts and even allow substantial service improvements.
Unfortunately, advocates are facing bad news too, with looming cuts to the state’s cap-and-invest funding for transit potentially on the chopping block thanks to an initiative by the staff at the California Air Resources Board (CARB). “We are monitoring the CARB vote today, and encourage the state not to take away funding for transit, affordable housing, and clean air at the behest of Big Oil,” said Fabris. “Cap-and-invest funds important Muni programs like the Train Control Upgrade Project and discount programs for youth, seniors, and people with disabilities. Allowing these funds to diminish would be a dereliction of the state’s climate goals.”
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
