San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie unveiled his long-awaited two-year budget proposal Friday morning, citing the need to tackle a historic $782 million deficit and usher in what he called a “new culture of accountability for each tax dollar.” But even before the full budget was made public, criticism erupted across the city, with the People’s Budget Coalition issuing a forceful condemnation of what it called an “austerity budget” that “balances the budget on the backs of the working class of San Francisco.”
According to a press release from the Coalition, the mayor’s proposal slashes $100 million in vital services, including homelessness support, food access, and legal services—cuts that directly affect the city’s most vulnerable residents. The Coalition warns that hundreds of city workers are now bracing for layoff notices, with even more nonprofit employees at risk as city-funded community-based programs face either deep reductions or complete elimination.
“Difficult choices have to be made in unprecedented times, but the Mayor is taking familiar routes: balancing the budget on the backs of working-class San Franciscans while protecting the wealthy and powerful,” the Coalition stated. “Someone always has to pay, and it’s always us.”…