San Francisco Lawmakers Vote to Create Reparations Fund for Black Residents Without Initial Funding

Reparations for Black San Franciscans are back on the table after the Board of Supervisors gave final approval Tuesday of an ordinance to create a fund aimed at addressing harms caused by past discriminatory city policies.

The measure does not allocate any initial city dollars, a move that may have helped secure support from the board’s moderates after repeated years of city budget shortfalls. Instead, the ordinance establishes a framework to receive future contributions – whether through city appropriations or private donations.

“This most certainly is different than asking the city to pony up dollars to support reparations recommendations,” said Supervisor Shamann Walton, who authored the ordinance. “It’s gonna take some time. We’ve got to build a pot and then, of course, come up with the right criteria in terms of how we’re going to prioritize what recommendations we address first. But this is a major first step.”

The vote follows years of work by the city’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee, which in March 2023 released a sweeping draft proposal that included over 100 recommendations. Those included one-time lump-sum payments of $5 million to each qualifying Black adult, guaranteed annual income of $97,000, down-payment assistance, tax and debt relief, and affordable housing options such as homes for just $1 – marking one of the most ambitious reparations plans in the country.

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