Will SF Democrats stand up to Trump—right here at home?

The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee will consider Wednesday/26 a measure that would put the local party on record not only opposing the brutal Trump cuts to public services but calling on the city and the state to raise local revenue from the very rich to backfill those cuts.

The resolution by John Avalos doesn’t explicitly mention a local income tax, or a local wealth tax, although the state Legislature has the power to allow both.

But it does say:

RESOLVED, that the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee urges state and local elected officials to make contingencies to bolster local jurisdictions’ financial ability to address the loss of federal dollars and explore ways to make up for the loss of billionaire and ultra-millionaire tax revenue by shifting their tax responsibility from the federal to the local level, and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that local jurisdictions create contingencies to address the loss of federal funding for essential services by exploring emergency revenue-generating strategies focusing on redistributing the wealth that has concentrated among the wealthiest residents so that jurisdictions will have the wherewithal to address its health and human services, veterans, education, housing, transportation, and infrastructure needs.

There are few “emergency revenue-generating strategies focusing on redistributing the wealth” that don’t involve taxes on the very rich.

So this will be the first time the members of the local party will have to vote, for the record, on raising taxes on the local rich.

Everyone in the Democratic Party complains about Trump, and everyone’s against the cuts to essential services (including as much as $500 million a year that goes to San Francisco). Easy to denounce and deplore.

But this brings the war, as they say, back home.

The current majority at the DCCC was elected with major financial support from local billionaires, the people who, the resolution says, should be paying more taxes. It would make the point that the Democrats can’t or won’t stop the cuts in Washington—so the only way to save the services that are life and death for so many people is to raise the revenue right here, in one of the richest states and one of the richest cities in the world.

It will be fascinating to see which of the members of the billionaire slate vote against it.

You can watch the meeting here. It will be fascinating to see which of the members of the billionaire slate vote against it.

Here is a letter that supporters are sending to the chair, Nancy Tung:

Dear Chair Tung and SF DCCC Members,

I am writing to urge you to vote in favor of the resolution in support of local solutions to address the federal staffing cuts, the DOGe impoundment of federal funding, and Trump executive orders that place inhumane and authoritarian conditions on local governments receive federal funding.

Already, dictator Trump is ignoring lower federal judicial rulings and the United States is in a constitutional crisis. With an earlier decision on Executive Immunity and with the Trump administration saying they will defy the courts, it is not rational to put the country’s faith in the Supreme Court to provide a check on the unaccountable dictatorship.

It is imperative that our local and state elected officials take action to recognize the crisis, measure the impact of the Trump administration withholding funding government operations and infrastructure and targeting vulnerable communities like the trans community and people with disabilities, and residents who are reliant on federal support on healthcare services including HIV care, housing, veterans services, childcare, nutritions,

maintain local government operations and infrastructure as well as legal action and protections for vulnerable communities against discrimination, sexual harassment and exploitation, exclusion, and environmental hazard,

explore ways to mitigate the harm of the dictatorship’s abandonment of the nation, including creating local community empowerment for mutual aid, and

explore state and local funding to make up for the loss of federal funding necessary to support an inclusive and well governed state and local jurisdictions.

It is worth repeating how crucial that local jurisdictions take steps to address the loss of federal funding to our community members and explore ways to redistribute wealth from the ultra-wealthy to ensure the continuation of essential services for all residents, especially the most vulnerable. In the past local jurisdictions created special task forces to address similar crises though nothing of this magnitude. State and local officials must resist authoritarian demands and work toward local autonomy and empowerment, free from the Trump dictatorship.

I urge you to take a stand for the well-being of all residents and support item #12 the RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF LOCAL SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS FEDERAL STAFFING CUTS AND THE IMPOUNDMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING.

Thank you