Budget Action

In the City and County of San Francisco, Senior and Disability Action is pushing for:

• An additional $3 million for senior and disability rental subsidies. This is an existing program that assists people in paying their rent to prevent eviction and homelessness.
• An additional $3 million for Senior Operating Subsidies (SOS). Through the program, units in senior housing buildings are set aside to be deeply affordable, meaning that seniors who live on Social Security or SSI can afford the rent.  
• $900,000 for computers, laptops, internet services, and digital training for seniors and people with disabilities, to expand digital equity and ensure that we can all be connected to friends, family, community, health care, and more.

Please sign this letter and reach out to your Supervisor individually and urge them to fund these programs! The Mayor failed to include these in her budget. And mark your calendar for Public Comment Day on Friday, June 25, 2021!

In Oakland, we are working with Anti Police-Terror Project, Oakland Rising, and others in the Refund Coalition to push the Oakland City Council to prioritize funding for housing and mental health rather than continuing to grow the huge police budget. Please join us for the Oakland City Council meeting on Thursday, June 10. Email regina@sdaction.org for more information.

At the state level, Governor Newsom released his revised budget recently, and we are glad to see increased investment in the senior and disability communities! Thank you, Governor, for including:

• Permanent restoration of the 7% cut in IHSS hours!
• Restoration of Medi-Cal “optional” benefits.
• Medi-Cal for undocumented seniors.
• Funding for the new Master Plan on Aging and Home and Community Based Services programs.

We still are pushing for a desperately-needed increase in SSI, an earlier start date for Medi-Cal for undocumented seniors, more funding for California Community Transitions to get people out of nursing facilities, and single-payer health care!

Please write to or call Governor Newsom’s office and your state legislators to urge them to fund the items above.

Get involved with the Healthcare Action Team or Housing Collaborative for ongoing budget advocacy. Email ligia@sdaction.org for HAT, freddy@sdaction.org for housing, or call (415) 546-1333.