possible to comply with this legislation even before we pass it. so, thank you, colleagues. [please stand by]

hearings where many, many brave survivors came forward and told their stories of being rained, of being sexually assaulted, and then facing horrible treatment by several city departments. it's been a long time coming, and i feel very hopeful that the creation of this department

will not only reverse the trend so that we're not only treating survivors poorly, but that we can hopefully become cutting edge and the best in the nation on how we respect, treat survivors with dignity, and help them navigate the really difficult process of gaining justice, accountability, and healing from sexual assaults and harassment. with today's vote, we are disrupting the current culture of minimizing victims and their cases, a culture of injustice. as a city, we are sending a message that every sexual assault and every sexual harassment survivor deserves respect. the office of sexual harassment and assault response and prevention will address complaints about city department failures, it will promote transparency, and it'll develop policies to improve systemic responses to sexual

assault and sexual harassment in san francisco. the creation of this office would not have been possible without the brave survivors that have come forward to share their stories and that have collaborated from day one with my office to prevent more survivors from going through this nightmare. i want to give a very, very special thanks to six women who brought this to my attention, who brainstormed solutions, and then who led the effort to get the word out and fight. one of them is here with us today, jane doe, thank you so much for everything that you've done to fight to make change after experiencing an unimaginable horrific crime. i can't tell you how much you've moved me and how much you've done to turn one of the worst situations in your entire life into something really positive. i also want to thank tiffany

and rachel and donna and whitney and maria and an incredibly huge hug and special thanks to my legislative aide, carolina morales, who's sick at home but who's probably watching, and who poured her heart and soul and brilliant brain into creating an effective piece of legislation that doesn't just create more bureaucracy or more city positions but is very thoughtfully crafted to put a dent in this massive issue and problem in our society.

i want to thank my colleagues for being with us every step of the way on this, especially i wanted to thank supervisor kathrin stefani who partners with me from the very beginning on this legislation. it feels really great to be here today and really, really great to be making a dent in this problem. >> president cohen: thank you, supervisor. any other discussion, colleagues? we can take this item, same

house, same call? without objection, the ordinance passes unanimously. [ gavel ]. >> president cohen: madam clerk, items 33 and 34. >> clerk: these are two resolutions that improve modification to airport services professional agreements. item 33 modifies -- this is a sixth modification to a program management support service for the airport security infrastructure program between faith group and the see for 13.7 million and to extend the term to december 31, 2019. and item 34 approves the fourth modification to a project management support service for the terminal three west modernization project between wcemjc and the city and extending the term through april 4, 2019. >> president cohen: all right. if we can take these items same house, same call. without objection, these items pass unanimously. [ gavel ]. >> president cohen: madam

clerk, next item. >> clerk: item 35 authorize officials to execute and file on behalf of the city for the purpose of obtaining state and federal financial assistance, including the federal fiscal year 2018 urban area security initiatives grant, the state homeland security grant program, the emergency management performance grant and the local government oil spill contingency grant program. >> president cohen: all right. we can take this, colleagues, same house, same call. [ gavel ]. >> president cohen: all right. next item. >> clerk: an ordinance amending the business and tax regulations code and administrative code to allocate a portion of hotel tax revenues for arts and cultural purposes and to remove objects lawsuit purposes and to remove the ceqa -- >> president cohen: supervisor

tang? >> supervisor tang: this is a wonderful measure that i'm teaming up with supervisor ronen on. we are hoping to have voters vote on this in november where we are trying to restore the historic link between our hotel revenues that are dedicated to arts funding. i grew up in our public school system here in san francisco learning how to play the flute, and did that for seven years and was able to benefit from my public arts school education and that was an incredible part of my life. i thought i might become at one point a professional musician, and i hope that we'll be able to pass this measure and be able to foster a sense of art and culture in our young -- young students coming up, growing up in san francisco. but also for the millions of visitors that come to our city who want to enjoy this rich cultural experience here. in the early 2000's, around

2003, unfortunately, the link between this hotel tax revenue and arts funding was broken, but our city had continued to invest funding in iarts. of course it's never enough, and we're hoping that bypassing this measure in november , we'll not only be able to invest in all the different organizations and resources that we have as a city done so in previous years, but also for new efforts, such as supporting cultural districts and also for more grant opportunities so that we can spread our love for art throughout more neighborhoods in san francisco. representing the sunset, unfortunately, we don't have a whole lot of art investment out there because we just don't have a whole lot of development happening there. so in essence, we don't get that percentage of art funding that usually comes and is required with development. so we are so excited to be able to work on this issue, but i

have to give big thanks for the arts coalition as well as prop f that occurred, that effort that took place previously. there's so many different organizations, it's been a really beautiful moment to see everyone come together. i want to thank the arts commission for -- for just really helping us bring everyone together as well as there's so many others to thank. i have to thank the controller's office. thank you, supervisor peskin and sonny and my staff from my office for their work on this.

>> president cohen: thank you. supervisor brown. >> we had the first cultural district, japantown, and we started working on this oh, 10, 11 years ago, to actually create the first cultural district in japantown. and it was exciting that we actually got it through. but given the decline and disappearance of so many other japantowns across the country,

it really was a priority. we needed a strategy for sustaining this important cultural community in san francisco. and our japantown in san francisco is the oldest japantown in the country and is only three others remaining in the nation down from as many as 40 at one time from the turn of the century. so these cultural centers are the last of the major japanese communities to survive the forced evacuation and incarceration of japanese americans during world war ii, and later, the urban renewal of the 50's and 60's. cultur cultural strategies have the potential to bring neighborhoods together, so i just want to thank everybody that worked on this. this is really good legislation. >> president cohen: thank you. supervisor yee? >> supervisor yee: i was just

wondering what impact this legislation would have with existing set asides. i know that prop s had an impact that i was concerned about. i don't know. this was different, but could you explain? >> sure. through the chair, to supervisor -- to supervisor yee, so yes, that is why i had to thank the controller's office and the mayor's budget office because they did figure out a way, they presented the arts coalition different options, and they all had different scenarios. this has a very minuimal one. but essentially the way they were able to build in the extra room to fund new services was by taking what the natural hotel and tax revenues, which was, correct me if i am wrong,

about 4.5% each year. so we were able to take that projected growth over time and take that to use it to fund cultural districts. so there is a very minimal impact but it's nowhere near what it would have been when prop s was there, which combined arts and homeless funding. >> i can defer to our city controller if -- to answer in a more technical sense.

>> good afternoon, supervisors. ben rosenfield. through the supervisor yee, no, this basically takes 1.5% of our current 14% hotel tax and converts it to a dedicated tax. then that growth within that 1.5% remains within that 1.5%, under lying the remainder of the -- would remain in the general hotel fund, and the portion of that tax would continue to feed the other baselines. [please stand by]

for a very worthy societial good and i look forward to working with all of you and the coalition to get this passed by a two-thirds super majority in 98 days from today. >> all right. thank you supervisor yee.

>> can i add as a c co-sponsor. >> thank you, madam president. any other discussions? all right, thank you colleagues. we can take this item same house aim call. the motion passes unanimously. and of course, next item. >> item 37 is a motion to order submitted to the voters at an election to be held on november 6th, 2018 in ordinance amending the business and tax regulations code to add a tax gore transportation network company services, private transit vehicles and autonomous passenger vehicle services. >> shall this motion be approved, please, call the roll. >> mr. peskin. >> thank you, madam president. colleagues, what a strange trip this one has been. i want to start, actually, by

going back to last year when mayor lee and myself actually steve kava and my chief-of-staff did all of the work. convened the traffic task force which was some $22 billion in need between now and 2045 as it relates to transportation funding both on the capital side and the operating side. in my incarnation as the chair of the county transportation authority, have been very serious about meeting one of those goals, which is a stable source of local funding in the amount of $100 million a year between now and 2045 to match federal and state grants, appropriations, together with the half billion dollar general obligation bond that the voters

saw fit to pass in 2014. and to that end, i came to this board with the transit sustainability fee increase and i thank you for the unanimous vote on that. it should ink out $10 million a year towards that $100 million that we need and then supervisor kim came up with something that has been popping up around the united states as it relates to transportation network companies, read uber, lyft and that was a per-ride fee. other municipalities have been looking at that to deal with the issues of congestion and impacts to the public realm whether it's street resurfacing and pedestrian safety and transit operations, law enforcement around transportation issues and the list goes on and on and of course, we were pre-empted by state law so unlike the city of portland, the state of massachusetts, the city of work, and california we do not have that option.

so instead, we developed what is before you today and that was a gross receipt category for transportation network companies and they were not excited about this issue and while i've certainly been quite vocal about t.n.c.s and their impact on san francisco relative to congestion, relative to the taxi industry and other things, i have to say over the last month, we have had very productive conversations that concluded today wherein our former assessor, today, chair of the budget committee fill tape with the support and former supervisor now state senator scott wiener as well as assembly member david chu, the entire local sacramento legislative delegation, have with uber and lyft support agreed to produce a

bill, with any luck at all, by a majority vote of both houses in the state, will be law by the first day of january of 2018 -- i'm sorry, 2019. that will allow us to actually go to the ballot in november and do what portland has done and have a per ride sur charge so there's a direction next us between the impact and our fund to transportation improvement this is san francisco. there are details but it is a 3.25% sur charge at its highest. we want to have a. d.a. rides so there's no charge on those. rides where there are multiple individuals that and it's a one and a half percent charge. i will give you all of that. i want to thank assembly member tinge as well as senator wiener and chu as well as the folks at

lyft and uber who really, i think, want to turn the page and become a part of the solution and finally, it wouldn't have happened without my chief-of-staff whom i am profoundly thankful and madam president, i would like to make a motion to table item number 37. >> all right. table item 37. >> i'd like to tank my co sponsor kim, ronan, yee, fewer and mandelman. >> it's been seconds by supervisor kim. we'll take that without objection. all right. madam clerk. next item. >> item 38 is an ordinance to amend the planning codes to allow limited non conforming specified zoning districts to operate between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. with conditional use and authorization to the

determination and to make the appropriate findings. >> madam clerk, on the question of should it be passed call roll. >> item 38, mandelman. >> aye. >> peskin. >> aye. >> supervisor ronan. >> aye. >> safai. >> aye. >> steph. >> tang. >> aye. >> yee. >> aye. >> brown. >> aye. >> cohen. >> aye. >> supervisor fewer. >> aye. >> supervisor kim. >> aye. there are 11 ayes. >> this ordinance passes unanimously. item 39 and 40, please, madam clerk. >> clerk: item 39 is a resolution to determine the prem advertise to premise transfer of a type 48 on sale general public liquor license for business development inc doing business

as executive order located at 868 mission street will serve the public convenience and to request that the california department of alcoholic beverage control impose conditions on the issuance of this license and item 40 verified that cbtw inc doing business located at 34-14 has completed pre application requirements for the issuance of a new non transferable type 87 neighborhood restricted general liquor license. >> thank you, very much. seeing there are no names, colleagues can we take these items. same house same call? without objection of the items pass unanimously. >> item 41 is an ordinance to require disclosure of candidate and third party spending in retirement board, health service board and retiree healthcare trust fund board elections to set filing fees, the late filing piece and penalties for violations and specify the

ethnic commission will enforce the requirements. >> supervisor cohen. >> thank you, very much. >> item 41. >> i want to just start off by saying thank you for hearing this item. for the retirement board and the retiree healthcare trust all into one selection. these three boards have a combined eight elected positions and they govern city interest from healthcare plans and employee contributions rates to the investment or the divestment of fossil fuels and thermal coal. with so much money at stake it's

essential these elections be subject to the same disclosure requirements as every campaign and commissioner in the city. this legislation produces much needed transparency and accountability to the smaller and quite frankly more over looked commissions and boards.

-- it gave priority to affordable housing and followed by the directive to streamline large residential projects, whether affordable or not, diluting the intent of the previous directives. this legislation strengthens and complements other efforts underway to streamline planning approvals for affordable housing and to bring down construction

costs. what the legislation does is straightforward and first it directs five city departments planning d.e.i. and the mayor's office of disability to give absolute priority to every housing project that comes for review and approval. it requires to dress nate a point person -- designate a point person, to attract these projects, shepherd them through the process and coordinate with sponsors. and, third it requires that the board receive quarterly updates on the status of all affordable housing developments in pre-development. this gives us the ability to check the projects and their progress in our own districts. i want to thank the mhocd for their partnership and advice and the work of the staff and planning and the public works and m.o.d. and oewd for their cooperation. and i want to give a special thanks to amy binehart in my office who developed this legislation and took the lead for us. i hope to have your support.

thank you so much. >> thank you, supervisor. i appreciate those remarks. any other discussion? all right, colleagues can we take this item, we can without objection. the ordnan passes. madam clerk, next item. >> clerk: to have steven lee to the commission. >> any discussion? coocolleagues can we same this m same house, same call. without objection it passes. madam clerk, call item 44 and 45. >> clerk: items 44 and 45, are two motions to approve president cohen's reapipement of dennis richards and kathrin moore to the planning commission for four-year terms ending july 1, 2022. >> all right, supervisor kim? >> i just want to thank both commissioner moore and richards for their service on the planning kim and i appreciate they're willing to continue to

serve. this is commissioner moore's fourth term which is extraordinary. the planning commission is certainly not just a volunteer commission. it is a ton of work and many hours. and watching many planning commission meetings i just want to extend my appreciation to our two board appointees for all of their work and rigor and also for continuing on and i'm happy to be supporting these two appointees today. >> thank you. supervisor presidency kin. >> thank you, supervisor cohen and i want to thank you, madam president, for seeing fit to reappoint those two individuals that give voice to those who need to be heard before that important body. thank you. >> absolutely. all right, seeing that there are no further names on the roster, can we take this same house, same call? all right. without objection this passes

unanimously. madam clerk, call 46 and 47. >> clerk: 46 and 47 approve two mayoral reappointments of the first is rodney fong and milicent johnson to the planning commission for four-year terms ending june 30, 2022. >> supervisor kim. >> i did not want to leave out any words because i see that commissioner johnson is actually here but i want to thank these two commissioners as well for their service and also miss johnson who has just begun, i have enjoyed watching you on the planning commission. i'm enjoying -- i am looking forward to continuing to watch you serve. >> thank you, supervisor kim. i too want to join in on those remarks. good to see you commissioner milicent johnson, thank you for your service. anyone else? all right. supervisor ronen. >> thank you, i too want to echo my two colleagues and it's been

fun to watch you on the commission, commissioner johnson. >> okay. all right, colleagues, can we take these items, same house, same call? without objection it passes unanimously. thank you. madam clerk. next item. >> clerk: item 48 to appoint apt with the residency requirement to the office of early care and education, citizens' advisory committee and the terms ending may 1, 2020. >> coocolleagues can we take ths same house, same call? it passes unanimously. next item. >> clerk: item 49 to appoint george ishikata and the requirement waived for the four-year term ending january 31, 2021, and deborah dacamos and matthew brower for the expired portion of a four-year term ending january 31, 2022 to the veterans' affairs commission. >> colleagues can we take this item, same house, same call?

all right. without objection, this motion passes unanimously. next item. >> clerk: committee reports. madam president. item 54 through 64, were considered by the budget and finance sub-committee at a regular meeting on thursday, july 26th, 2018, and it was forwarded as committee reports where specified. item 54-59, madam president, are resolutions to approve the airport concession lease. and with the new title, it retroactively approves amendment number 1 to dot mostic terminal food and beverage program between bay group j.v. and the city to extend the term for five years through december 31, 2020. with no change to the minimum annual guarantee or m.a.g. of approximately $169,000. >> colleagues, any discussions? >> clerk: did you want me to

read 54 -- >> yes, please. >> clerk: item 55 retroactively approves the first amendment to the domestic terminal food and beverage program lease between dlau with the extension to january 31, 2020 with no change to the m.a.g. of $146,000. and item 56, recommended as amended with the new title to approve the second amendment to the electronics and technology stores in terminal two and three between inmotion entertain pent group and the city extending for two years through december 31, 2020, with an option for early termination and a new m.a.g. of approximately $413,000. and item 57 was recommended as amended with a new title to also rest owretroactively to have the for gotham enterprises l.l.c. and the city extending for three years through december 31, 2020, and a new m.a.g. of

approximately $152,000. and item 58, was also recommended as amended with a new title that retroactively approves amendment number 2 to the terminal food and beverage program lease between bay area restaurant group joint venture and the city and extending the term by two years through september 30, 2019. and introduces a new m.a.g. of approximately $87,000. pardon me, yes, $87,000. >> all right, thank you. colleagues can we take these items, and same house, same call? without objection, these resolutions are adopted. madam clerk. next item, please. >> clerk: item 59 is a resolution to retroactively approve amendment number 1 to the domestic terminal food and beverage program whrees between lady luck l.l.c. and the city extending the term through september 30, 2019, with a new m.a.g. of approximately $96,000.

i left that one out, madam president. >> okay, i was wondering what had happened. seeing no objection this resolution is adopted. madam clerk. >> clerk: item 60 a resolution to approve the first amendment to lease -- to a lease between bodin properties at 160 jefferson street and the city for two-yea-extension for a tero june 30, 2065. >> all right, same choice, same call. without objection adopted. next item. >> clerk: item 61, a resolution to authorize the general manager of the san francisco public utilities commission to execute the fifth amendment to an agreement with urs corporation and to increase the lent of the agreement by up to 13 months through june -- july 10, 2020.

to increase the agreement and adjusting the estimated cumulative contract amount for a total not to exceed $30.9 million. >> all right, thank you. same house, same call? without objection this resolution is adopted. next item. >> clerk: to declare the intent of the city to reimburse certain expenditures from the indebtedness and to have related documents to the allocation committee to permit the issuance of mortgage revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $80 million for 691 china basin street. >> colleagues, same house, same call. without objection. next item. >> clerk: item 63 and 64 are two motions to order submitted to the voters at an election to be held on november 6, 2018, and item 63 was not forwarded to the board of supervisors. and item 64 is the motion to

order submitted to the voters at an election to be held on november 6, 2018, and to have the business and tax regulations code to impose a gross receipts tax starting january 1, 2021, on gross receipts from cannibas business activities, but exempting the first $500,000 of gross receipts and exempting retail sales of medicinal cannibas. >> thank you, madam clerk. i recognize president cohen on this item. >> well, colleagues this is an interesting discussion. i feel like i have been talking about this topic for years. and, again, i just want to say thank you for considering it and

the recreational cannibas industry is brand new. it's growing. but we've been dealing with its impacts or in many cases its perceived impacts, for decades. here's a fact -- it's been 20 years since prop 215 permitted medical cannibas in the state of california which gave patients legal access to medicine and pain relief. it's been 20 years since that prop passed. another fact is that it's been five years since the obama administration issued the cohl memorandum and it deprioritizing the enforcement of cannibas laws. another fact is that it's been almost two years since california passed the legalization of recreational cannibas. but cannibas is still a controlled substance, it's still banned at a federal level. we still have a two-tiered system between those with privilege and access and,

frankly, those without. and as of last fall we have 14% of all cannibas retailers in san francisco grossing 63% of revenues. and so the absence much absencg system for cannibas means that the well-funded businessman have a leg up on raising money, access to capital, and on finding a location, a location specifically in the green zone. and also a leg up on getting their permits through what some people have described as fairly onerous process. and zoning restrictions mean that quite possibly it could mean that we're compounding the issues for equity businesses. despite our efforts to have a process to repair some of the harm done by the war on drugs, our zoning perpetuates that two-tiered system. and as a city we must commit to

the equity program and helping upstart businesses, particularly those that are finding themselves -- making their homes in communities of color, and have the same -- making sure they have the same opportunity as those with better networks and better access to capital. and this means that funding for workforce development as we have heard supervisor safai talk about. workforce funding. this means funding for staffing, for a permit expediter in oewd. and this means ensuring that there's funding to support the legal aspect and the navigation of the regulatory procedures. this includes loans for tenant buildouts to meet zoning requirements. not to mention that we've got a long way to go when it goes into building our compassion program. now compassion programs is something that you may be

familiar with or not familiar with. in a nutshell it's a simple -- it's simply -- it subsidieses cannibas as a medicine for low-income and for struggling patients. and, frankly, this compassionate program is at risk under the new regulatory scheme of not surviving. san francisco must be committed to patient access and also it must support a compassion program and, again, this is a compassion program for low-income patients. now my call to action is very simple. it's time to fund these programs and i think that it's time for us to put our money where our mouth is. and we need revenue to do it. and so what i am proposing is a tax that includes a staggered timeline. i have spoken about it at length in committee and i will take a few minutes to speak briefly on it today. now the staggered timeline allows us to begin to generate

revenue in 2019 through the wayfair amendment. you have heard a lot about the wayfair amendment. and i want to recognize supervisor peskin for that -- for that suggestion in this legislation. but what it also does is delay the implementation for the cannibas industry until 2021. and the reason that we're delaying the implementation of this tax is because we've heard from the cannibas industry. people are saying that we need to stabilize, we need to normalize, we need to get our footing. and i agree. and so in agreement we are allowing or requesting i should say -- requesting that this tax bill go into effect in 2021. many of you are saying why would we put this in 2021 if it's important and important now? let me touch on one point before i get back to answering that question. you see, the wayfair amendment allows us to collect money upfront which allows us to bridge the gap between the immediate need of the industry

and the industry's ability to shoulder such attacks. and the delay and implementation i might add was made at the request of the cannibas industry. it gives the industry time to adapt to the oversight for the environment they're currently operating in. having the framework in place and having this tax framework in place allows us -- it gives us the infrastructure and a reference point as we continue to move forward. now voting for this legislation now with the wayfair amendment in place gives us the seed funding for the programs that are essential for normalization, essential for the educating of the population after decades of misinformation, and it's essential for building and -- building out an access to medicine. the rates that have been

introduced are among the fairest and the lowest in the entire state. now that is an argument that the industry is making saying that it's an unfair tax. of course, nobody really wants to be taxed. i understand that. but this is an important measure that must go forward. and when you compare -- when you compare 10% -- the 10% tax rate that is going on in oakland to maybe the 20% in santa barbara. and santa cruz has 7%. and 5% for the entire industry in berkeley and an outright ban in other counties, this is a fair starting point. what we're proposing and discussing today is absolutely fair. now here's a key point. this tax exempt medical, i want to make sure that i say that very clearly so that people are not mistaken -- tax exemption for medical cannibas. it exempts testing and delivery and it also exempts the first $500,000 in gross receipts. and, most importantly, it has a

lower rate for start-up businesses. a lower tax rate. what does that mean? it means that this legislation is in line with the guidelines used by the cannibas task force and reflects several amendments made based on industry feedback. and it is -- this is the infrastructure and the tool to give us the authority to examine the industry and to revise this and we can revise this tax measure by the board if need be. now people are concerned that -- that we don't have enough data to inform us on our decision today and i argue that we actually do have information and data to allow us to move forward. but, more importantly, this legislation is expressly written to address the fluctuations and the desires of this board and future boards. it is this body that has the ability to raise the tax measure, raise the tax rate, or to lower the tax rate by a

simple vote of eight people. now i think that it is incredibly fair. quite frankly, it's very forward thinking. allowing us to put infrastructure in place to begin to collect taxes but also it does not hamstring us to a specific tax rate. that we come together as a legislative body to adjust whatever adjustments need to be made that reflects our need in the future. and so i am asking for your support, colleagues, not only on this tax framework but a commitment for our equity program. a commitment for our compassion program and a commitment to continue the conversation around the cannibas industry both in the states and the local level and for keeping this industry fair and on equal footing. i also want to note on the

statewide level this legislation is being passed around as model legislation. so i hope that you will support me and support this notorietitive. i'm happy to answer whatever questions you may have, i'm available. and i want to particularly recognize the team of folks that have helped me to shape and craft this legislation, specifically my legislative aide, she's been remarkable and available to answer anyone's questions. with that, i will be happy to answer questions that colleagues may have, thank you. >> supervisor mandelman. >> i recognize that i'm coming to this legislation very, very late and it's been before the board for more than a year and i thank president cohen and your staff for the clear and extraordinary efforts that you have made to work with the industry and the affected parties to try to craft legislation that makes sense.

and on a personal level i want to thank you and your staff for being willing to meet with me and my staff to get a handle around what this legislation would do. however, after hearing from dozens of my constituents and many cannibas industry leaders, operators and employees, i'm not going to be able to support this tax as written today. the retail cannibas industry is barely six months old and in my view needs more time to stabilize before we as a city should be imposing additional restrictions. i know other localities are moving forward with taxes that are much higher and in some cases outright bans but i'm not sure that we should look to them for guidance on this. there's a significant unregulated market that remains and it may even be growing. so that's something that we have to be attuned to. cannibas businesses are already facing high taxes at the state level and constantly shifting regulations from the state, including major changes that went into effect earlier this month. so i recognize that this

legislation would not take effect until 2021 but i think that it makes sense to have this developed and possibly come forward with a tax at a later point. i am eager to work with president cohen on measures related to equity and compassion, regardless of what happens with this tax. but for me today i'm not going to be able to vote for this. >> supervisor brown. >> well, i too want to thank president cohen and her staff for working on this and really helping me to get more into the weeds since -- [laughter]. as supervisor mandelman had said, you know, we were dropped in a little bit late on this. so we weren't able to work on it with you and we would have loved to. and i know that it's very difficult, i worked as an aide

for medical cannibas with we crafted that legislation and it was intense. i know all of the work that you have put into it. but i vote for this item because i believe that san francisco will ultimately tax and it can be amended as the industry develops between now and 2021. generating more information, more data, for all of us to work with. the tax rate established is lower than most of the other cities with a tax framework in place and that is appropriate for a city as supportive of cannibas as ours. and i want to emphasize also that key to my support for this item is the wayfair amendment. thank you, supervisor peskin. and the funding that it will generate in the near term which i expect this body and the city will dedicate to supporting our equity and compassion programs. to uplift those who are hit hardest by our failed war on drugs and we need to support

these communities in succeeding in this newly regulated sector through additional staffing support for homegrown small businesses, to help them to overcome the permitting and regulatory hurdles. and by reinvesting to support greater health and education outcomes in this community. thank you. >> clerk: supervisor kim, were you about to hit the button? supervisor kim. >> thank you, supervisor safai. i was not sure if i'd speak to this item but i know that i have let several of my colleagues know since last fall that i was not open on supporting the revenue measure on this new industry. we talk about access on the board and the focus is largely been on geography and whether people can access cannibas, but i actually agree with supervisor peskin that the access issue is the price point. it is not how many there are or which neighborhoods. i think that anyone can access

those recreational and the medical cannibas if they would like, given just the current universe of retail and delivery services that we have here in the city. however, there's a concern that if the price of the product goes too high those that are low income will not be able to afford it. i know that this tax does not impact medical marijuana and i do really want to appreciate that, particularly for low-income patients who really depend on cannibas for their health. and i think that -- i'm not going to cite the numerous cases that support this and there's recently a great article about veterans coming out, asking the federal government to re-think whether it advises their veteran patients on the use of medical cannibas. i think that is certainly important. but as this industry develops, i think that there's a i little bt of time that we should spend in evaluating their gross receipts before we move forward with

this. what i would not like to see is that cannibas goes back to the black market. because it becomes so expensive to legally purchase that people start to purchase it outside much our legally provided avenues. so i want to give this industry that time to be able to develop their business and move forward. that being said, i just want to say supervisor cohen did a tremendous job in listening to a lot of different stakeholders. i think that you are putting something forward that has really taken into account many of the feedback and thoughts that you have heard both in the delay and in the percentages. and i think that we have the time and though i won't be on the board in 2020, i think that is the appropriate year for the board to move forward with a tax on cannibas. i think that for now we're just jumping the gun a little bit early. and because we have talked so much about access, again, we should think about the price point versus geography and making sure that a lot of different consumers are able to access this product.

but if over time we discover that this industry is burgeoning in cash, that is an assumption that many of us have made, including myself, that would be the appropriate time with more data to put forward the appropriate percentages for both our retail and manufacturing industries. >> supervisor ronen. >> thank you. i want to also start off by appreciating you supervisor cohen because this is not an easy community or issue to try to reach consensus on anything moving forward. but i also am not going to be able to support this today. and the main reason that i think that following supervisor kim is i am worried that the 24% tax on the product that the state has placed on cannibas, might be too high and they might have to

right size that. i think that at this point adding the local tax on to that and it's especially for one that won't go into effect until 2021 when we'll have the opportunity in an election prior to that to add a local tax on cannibas, and that that might be the more appropriate time. i did hear a report on npr the other day that the revenue that the state has been taking in from cannibas, the cannibas industry, is much less than they anticipated and i fear that is because the price has become so high that -- that the product is once again going underground and into the black market. (please stand by).