Framework v2020.08.0

Overview

• Good Government
  • Bureaucracy - Vote for things which decrease needless or unhelpful bureaucracy
  • Promotion - Vote for things which promote good government
• Representation
  • No Lobby - Vote for groups that don't have a strong lobby (youth, disabled, homeless, low-income people, the environment)
  • Rights - Vote against things which infringe upon rights of the people
• Taxation
  • Externalities - Vote for things that price externalities
  • Infrastructure - Vote to fund infrastructure
  • Liberate Set-Asides - Vote to liberate funds from budget set-asides, to be useful for other purposes
  • New Taxes - Generally prefer to vote for new taxes, preferably without a set-aside
  • Set-Asides - Generally vote against budget set-asides, which limit the ability of representatives to budget effectively
• Values
  • Equity - Vote for racial and gender equity
  • Immigration - Vote for policies which promote immigration and immigrant rights
  • LGBTQ+ - Vote for more LGBTQ+ rights
  • Movement - Vote for policies which increase freedom of movement
  • Safety Nets - Vote to improve and expand social safety nets

Vote for things which decrease needless or unhelpful bureaucracy

Do you have any idea how many commissions and “oversight” bodies San Francisco has? Neither do we — we have too many to count. Bias towards saying no to passing the buck to a new bureaucratic agency.

Vote for things which promote good government

The motivation behind this is self-explanatory, but the implementation is up to debate. What we consider good government may not be what you consider good government. When we use this justification, we will attempt to explain our reasoning well.

When evaluating ballot measures, we consider whether a ballot measure truly is the best mechanism to enact the change in question - or if the legislative process, litigation, or another means is more suitable. We also consider the impact of unintended consequences and future constraints on amending or repealing the measure if ratified.

Vote for groups that don't have a strong lobby (youth, disabled, homeless, low-income people, the environment)

This should be self-explanatory.

These ballot props deserve a proper reading, but if you consider yourself a democrat then you should probably go ahead and approve these measures.

Vote against things which infringe upon rights of the people

This rarely comes up, but it looks like: limits on speech, rolling back rights (eg making gay marriage illegal again), limiting what people can consume or pay for.

We find propositions like this fundamentally illiberal. We should default to more liberty and less central control of our lives.

Vote for things that price externalities

Avoid the tragedy of the commons: put a price on carbon emissions, packaging waste, miles driven, etc. Anything that has a diffuse negative impact that nobody pays for must be priced by a government-mandated market.

Vote to fund infrastructure

Due to Prop 13, San Francisco’s (and California’s) infrastructure is dramatically under-funded. We need to fix our roads, transit, bike lanes, rail roads, sewer, electricity, etc, etc. Let’s pay for it!

Vote to liberate funds from budget set-asides, to be useful for other purposes

We wish this category showed up more often, but it’s extremely rare. Any time a budget set-aside is up for repeal, VOTE YES. Let the legislature control budgeting!

Generally prefer to vote for new taxes, preferably without a set-aside

Due to Prop 13, Californians must vote on all new taxes. This was part of the “taxpayer revolt” led by Howard Jarvis in the 1970s. It was designed to limit new taxes by forcing all new taxes to go to a popular vote. The analysis of Prop 13 at the time was telling: it predicted massive shortfalls in public funding for schools and local governments. Indeed, this prediction came true. It’s one of the reasons that the University of California system is no longer free, and why our primary education system is so bad.

We prefer to vote for new taxes because in a healthier democracy these taxes would be imposed by the legislature. By the time the tax makes it to the ballot, it already has support from lawmakers and we should respect that process by having a strong bias in favor of the new taxes.

When we say “preferably without a set-aside,” we mean that we prefer new taxes to go to the general fund. Public money in the general fund can be appropriated during the regular budgeting process and can thus be directed towards whatever is pressing. Budget set-asides, in contrast, are reserved for the particular cause and cannot be used if the city experiences a budget shortfall. During the next recession, for example, we will be forced to spend tax money on trees and arts subsidies instead of school children and infrastructure.

Generally vote against budget set-asides, which limit the ability of representatives to budget effectively

Closely related to #taxation.new-taxes, but this doesn’t implement any new taxes. There’s literally no reason a prop like this ever needs to be on the ballot. The legislature (or Board of Supervisors) already has the ability to fund programs during the budgeting process. When you see something like this, it means they found a way to fund a pet project using language they believe voters will like. We’ll be stuck with that decision in the next recession because this can only be changed with another popular vote.

Vote for racial and gender equity

Everyone deserve equality of opportunity, but that’s not enough. To account for historical wrongs and ongoing implicit bias, people from disadvantaged backgrounds deserve an extra leg up.

People of color have endured over a century of explicitly racist federal and state policies that have prevented them from building family wealth. Women are still at a disadvantage compared to men in the workfore, though we have made great strides in the tech industry towards equal pay for equal work.

Government ought to ensure that all of society prospers and builds wealth, not a small subset of it.

Vote for policies which promote immigration and immigrant rights

America is a nation of immigrants. 70% of tech workers in the valley are immigrants, and 50% in the SF/Oakland/Hawyard area are source. Immigration is a fundamental tenet of America.

Nationally, we have seen a rise of anti-immigration rhetoric and locally we have seen the same. Immigrants are blamed for high housing costs, for traffic, for crime. Yet immigrants are the least dangerous, most law-abiding demographic.

We should do everything we can to make San Francisco an ideal place for immigrants. That means valuing their voice and promoting policies which help them come and stay here.

Vote for more LGBTQ+ rights

All people, regardless of sexuality or gender identity, deserve equal treatment under the law. To repair past injustices and to ameliorate ongoing injustice, we should promote laws which protect and promote the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

Everyone has the right to be themselves and love whoever they like. You should not fear retribution or alienation by your employer or your government.

Vote for policies which increase freedom of movement

All people have a fundamental right to movement. Immigrants should not be afraid to visit their families because they might not be able to return to the country.

Vote to improve and expand social safety nets

No one should go bankrupt due to unexpected medical problems. No one should stay in a shitty job just to pay the bills. We need to provide a social safety net so that people can take risks without ending up sleeping on the street.

Good social safety nets promote economic growth and ensure no one ends up homeless. America, and San Francisco especially, do not have good systems in place to help people. We need to do better.