it's a continuation of movement that came before us. i want to offer a little bit of the magic that got to happen today here. we showcase exhibitions, the monthly literary events, one of the only bilingual event that happens in the bay area, under the moon, honoring our traditions. and i want to call some of the artists that were nurtured in that corner on 24th and bryant that started their careers there. that gave us their [speaking spanish] to heal. it didn't matter what day of the week it was, when prince passed, when all the major like awful things were happening, it was always a place we got to share magic. i don't know why i just named prince. i guess i was thinking about him. [laughter] i'm thinking purple.

i want to focus on bringing the artists, who are the people for us that have given us, made a perfect world out of an imperfect situation. that is what olga said, i want to bring those words up and start out by inviting -- yes. she is an interdisciplinary artist and author of too much girl. she is the recipient of four san francisco arts commissions artist grants and has lived and made art in the mission district of san francisco for over two decades. she's a longtime educator and community worker and teaches at san francisco state university. but more than anything, she gave -- it wasn't -- she brought the magic and we got to see so

many important first-time works where there was literary performance. and she's part of the regeneration program, if i'm not mistaken, which was started to create a platform for artists to be cultivated, nurtured and have elders. we needed to have the words. i wanted to acknowledge two more little people. i want you two to hear these voice, these words and have it in your heart, this is your truth, too. you can speak your truth. this space is not just for us. we look to you little guys to come up and continue making this magic, okay. so listen. [applause] >> it's such an honor to have -- to be able to share this with

you. [ ♪ ] [singing in spanish] [singing]

[cheers and applause] [speaking spanish] the tropical beach. memory blurry in the rearview. entangled. with her golden shadow holding the compass. our lives full bloom. each mural rendered in a palace that shows our fist in the air. pen the anthems to make our feet move. [speaking spanish] talking to them in rhymes we can't reason.

know how to see in the dark. [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] again, i'm honored to share my palm song and my attitude with you this afternoon. and we break the ground with our action. we are accustomed to excavation, to ripping up and unearth silence and harvest truth. to throw it up into the sky for

everyone to see, like a colorful piece of graffiti. we are here. we live here. we are still here. we have the right to stay, just not the millions. our community, our children, our artists deserve better. and this is on the way to better. this is an international beacon that welcomes and displays the complexity of us and our accomplices. that's a good word. i am among many who wouldn't know where i would be without -- [ ♪ ]

i conjured up a song for the bilingual monthly poetry. while our poetry lives in the streets and other community hubs, we ultimately always end up here, which is our sanctuary where we preserve ours. i have lived longer in this body than anywhere else in my life. i stepped into leadership, become a mother, developed as an artist and it has been part of every step of that, giving me space, opportunities, joy, refuge. i was there when prince passed. we cried together. we did. always on my mind, too. like so many others of you, my husband and i are family came to set roots here, contribute, build community, build that family we crave and bear the

fruit of that in place with an important central american legacy of art and activism. this is the meeting place. the living room where we gather. it's our sanctuary. there we convene with our elders. celebrate our children. experience each other's creation. honor those who have passed. as we mark this moment, i hope you'll join me in telling that everyone will stand and the mission community remains. [cheers and applause] i know that my neighbor still walks down the block as always. and i know that he's watching over us and that he is going to watch over this corner. and i know that you will, too. applause

>> that was beautiful. that was a beautiful reminder of why we're here today. these projects take a lot of

effort and there are a lot of different folks that are part of this work, so it should go without saying that we owe a huge debt of gratitude to all of the consultants, all of the attorneys, all the folks that help us. and so i want to start by -- before introducing a very important person, by acknowledging the support that we've received from the mayor's office of housing and community development. the support from bearings, u.s. bank, from the california tax credit allocation committee. [laughter] from the california debt limit allocation committee. our architects, ryan jang and richard stacy. our contractors. general contractors.

i want to close by acknowledging that in the city of san francisco we've had a very special financial partner that believes in us and has believed in us for quite some time, so much so, they have helped the city transform a portfolio of its old housing into opportunities of hope through its funding of the rental assistance demonstration project. and here specifically they've helped us realize this project. and i'm talking about bank of america. and here today on behalf of bank of america is liz minute, who for the last 15 years has been an integral part of their leadership team. we'd like to invite her and acknowledge our gratitude to bank of america for their support of this project. [applause] >> thank you so much. and good afternoon, everyone. what an amazing way to end a

week in this beautiful, beautiful day here in the mission. as was just said, bank of america has a long history in san francisco since our founding here in 1904 to getting people back in hair homes after the -- their homes after the earthquake, to building and financing both of our large bridges here. and with reference to our $2.2 billion commitment to the san francisco rental assistant development as well. we're so very, very thrilled and honored to have the partnership that we do with the tndc and meta and to be able to provide over $92 million in financing commitments for what is going to be this amazing property and the ground-breaking that we're here for today. we'd like to continue to thank all the teams that made this possible. our bank of america team that made this possible. our partners within the mayor's housing group. some of whom i see today, to our partners within the supervisor's

office. please send our thanks and then to our mayor, the honorable mayor london breed and everything she has and continues to do for affordable housing in the city. mayor breed. [applause] >> thank you. i feel like me and liz are a tag team, because we've been all over the city doing amazing work together on projects just like this. and i'm so excited to be here in the mission once again for another 100% affordable housing project! [cheers and applause] and i think the -- there is one special group of people to thank that made this all possible. and that is the mission community. we know as someone who is a native san franciscan and someone who has seen and lived through a lot of the changes in

the western community, i understand the challenges that this community has and continues to face with displacement and watching as your neighbors, who you once knew when you were growing up, the people that -- and the businesses that you were familiar with, all of a sudden, are no longer there. to look around and not really recognize your community, is something sadly that i know the mission community has been experiencing for the past several years. a couple of years ago, when mayor lee was here with us, there was a lot of advocacy. i was on the board of supervisors. and there was a commitment made in the general obligation bond and a commitment that we would not only continue to work with this community, but we would invest that previous bond an additional $50 million specifically in the mission community.

we know that is not enough. but here's the good news. we're finally realizing the fruits of your labor. four affordable housing projects that are under way, under construction as we speak, with 459 units. and when you add this project with 143 units, you get over 600. and we know that there has been a lot of organizing so that we can get to 2500 units. with the additional windfall money that we received at the city, we're committed to purchasing two more properties in the mission. we are committed to investing the dollars if you will help us get this next bond in november passed, so that we can get more affordable housing units built. and then on top of that, what will happen in this community that should have happened in the

western edition, with our neighborhood preference legislation, this community will be prioritized for access when these units are built. [cheers and applause] >> mayor breed: that is so significant. because i got to it will you, when -- tell you, when i looked around and wonder why when we built affordable housing in the western addition, why i couldn't get access at the time, and so many of my neighbors and friends and the lottery system and the challenges with the lottery system, i was frustrated. i didn't want the city to continue down that path, so that when we build these units and we say they're for the community, we have to mean it. so with 40% of these units being prioritized with this community, that's a good step in the right direction. and i am so excited, because in addition to investing in housing, this property will have a child care facility. this property will be home to homey. this property will celebrate and

support the organizations that make this community so special. and we will take it even a step further, because we know that there has to be outreach. we have to make sure that people in this community know that they qualify for these units and that they apply, apply, apply. we have to make sure that the applications get in. so we're going to be working and investing the resources to outreach to the community so we can get as many folks as were born and raised in this community into these units when they're completed. that is my goal. i know that you believe in that goal as well. and so as we break ground today, and as we celebrate on this beautiful day with the sun shining and, yes, the wind blowing, typical san francisco weather, we remember those people who really fought for our ability to exist.

our ability to exist and be a part of such an amazing place like san francisco. so many people like my grandmother, ms. brown and mama fay and mary rogers and so many people who fought against the injustices of redevelopment so i could even stand here in an amazing position to help make the kind of change that will really make the difference in communities like the mission. i am so honored to serve as your mayor. and i am so excited about the future and what we're going to do together with more affordable housing projects in this community and all over san francisco. thank you, all, for being such an amazing partner. thank you to meta, tndc, for continuing to be housing champions for affordable housing throughout san francisco. let's break this ground. let's get these units built. and let's get folks moved into their new homes. thank you all so much. [cheers and applause]

>> apparently i'm leading the toast now. this is all improv now. i'm going to do it latino-american style. for those who don't speak spanish, bear with us and just follow. so in honoring all of our ancestors, honoring all of you here and the future generations moving forward -- [speaking spanish] >> all right! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! woo! here we go.

>> i have been living in san francisco since 1957. i live in this area for 42 years. my name is shirley jackson, and i am a retirement teacher for

san francisco unified school district, and i work with early childhood education and after school programs. i have light upstairs and down stairs. it's been remodelled and i like it. some of my floors upstairs was there from the time i built the place, so they were very horrible and dark. but we've got lighting. the room seems lighter. they painted the place, they cemented my back yard, so i won't be worried about landscaping too much. we have central heating, and i like the new countertops they put in. up to date -- oh, and we have venetian blinds. we never had venetian blinds before, and it's just cozy for me. it meant a lot to me because i didn't drive, and i wanted to be in the area where i can do my shopping, go to work, take

the kids to school. i like the way they introduced the move-in. i went to quite a bit of the meetings. they showed us blueprints of the materials that they were going to use in here, and they gave us the opportunity to choose where we would like to stay while they was renovating. it means a lot. it's just that i've been here so long. most people that enjoyed their life would love to always retain that life and keep that lifestyle, so it was a peaceful neighborhood. the park was always peaceful, and -- i don't know. i just loved it. i wanted to be here, and i

stayed. . >> shop and dine the 49 promotes loophole businesses and changes residents to do thirds shopping and diane within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services we help san francisco remain unique and successful where will you shop and dine shop and dine the 49. >> my name is neil the general manager for the book shop here on west portal avenue if san francisco this is a neighborhood bookstore and it is a wonderful neighborhood but it is an interesting community because the residents the neighborhood muni loves the neighborhood it is community and we as a book sincerely we

see the same people here the shop all the time and you know to a certain degree this is part of their this is created the neighborhood a place where people come and subcontract it is in recent years we see a drop off of a lot of bookstores both national chains and neighborhoods by the neighborhood stores where coming you don't want to - one of the great things of san francisco it is neighborhood neighborhood have dentist corrosive are coffeehouses but 2, 3, 4 coffeehouses in month neighborhoods that are on their own- that's

>> hi. my name is carmen chiu, san francisco's aelectricitied assessor. today, i want to share with you a property tax savings programs for families called proposition 58. prop 58 was passed in 1986 and it was helped parents pass on their lower property tax base to their children. so how does this work? under california's prop 13 law, the value we use to calculate your property tax is limited to 2% growth peryear. but when ownership changes, prop 13 requires that we reassess properties to market value. if parents want to pass on their home or other property to their children, it would be considered a change in ownership. assuming the market value of your property has gone up, your children, the new owners, would

pay taxes starting at that new higher level. that's where prop 58 comes in. prop 58 recognizes the transfer between parents and children so that instead of taxing your children at that new higher level, they get to keep your lower prop 13 value. remember, prop 58 only applies to transfers between parents and children. here's how the law twines an eligible child. a biological child, a step child, child adopted before the age of 18, and a son-in-law or daughter-in-law. to benefit from this tax saving program, remember, you just have to apply. download the prop 58 form from our website and submit it to our office. now you may ask, is there a cap how much you can pass on. well, first, your principal residence can be excluded. other than that, the total tap of properties that can use this

exclusion cannot exceed $1 million. this means for example if you have two other properties, each valued at $500,000, you can exclude both because they both fit under the $1 million cap. now what happens hwhen the totl value you want to pass on exceeds $1 million. let's say you have four properties. three with current taxable value of $300,000 and one at $200,000, totaling $1.1 million in value. assuming that you decide to pass on properties one, two, and three, we would apply the exclusions on a first come, first served basis. you would deduct properties one, two, and three, and you would still have $100,000 left to pass on. what happens when you pass on the last property? this property, house four, has been existing value of 2 -- has an existing value of $200,000, and its existing property value is actually higher, $700,000. as i said, the value left in

your cap is $100,000. when we first figure out your portion, we figure out the portion that can be excluded. we do that by dividing the exclusion value over the assessed value. in this case, it's 50%. this means 50% of the property will remain at its existing value. meanwhile, the rest will be reassessed at market value. so the new taxable value for this property will be 50% of the existing value, which is 200,000, equaling 100,000, plus the portion reassessed to market value, which is 50% times $700,000, in other words, 350,000, with a total coming out to $450,000. a similar program is also available for prepping transfers fl interest r from grandparents to grandchildren. if you're interested in learning more visit our website

or [♪] ♪ homelessness in san francisco is considered the number 1 issue by most people who live here, and it doesn't just affect neighbors without a home, it affects all of us. is real way to combat that is to work together. it will take city departments and nonprofit providers and volunteers and companies and community members all coming together. [♪] >> the product homeless connect community day of service began about 15 years ago, and we have had 73 of them. what we do is we host and expo-style event, and we were the very force organization to do this but it worked so well that 250 other cities across the globe host their own. there's over 120 service providers at the event today,

and they range anywhere from hygiene kits provided by the basics, 5% -- to prescription glasses and reading glasses, hearing tests, pet sitting, showers, medical services, flu shots, dental care, groceries, so many phenomenal service providers, and what makes it so unique is we ask that they provide that service today here it is an actual, tangible service people can leave with it. >> i am with the hearing and speech center of northern california, and we provide a variety of services including audiology, counselling, outreach, education, today we actually just do screening to see if someone has hearing loss. to follow updates when they come into the speech center and we do a full diagnostic hearing test, and we start the process of taking an impression of their year, deciding on which hearing aid will work best for them. if they have a smart phone, we make sure we get a smart phone that can connect to it, so they can stream phone calls, or use it for any other services that

they need. >> san francisco has phenomenal social services to support people at risk of becoming homeless, are already experience and homelessness, but it is confusing, and there is a lot of waste. bringing everyone into the same space not only saves an average of 20 hours a week in navigating the system and waiting in line for different areas, it helps them talk, so if you need to sign up for medi-cal, what you need identification, you don't have to go to sacramento or wait in line at a d.m.v., you go across the hall to the d.m.v. to get your i.d. ♪ today we will probably see around 30 people, and averaging about 20 of this people coming to cs for follow-up service. >> for a participant to qualify for services, all they need to do is come to the event. we have a lot of people who are at risk of homelessness but not yet experiencing it, that today's event can ensure they stay house. many people coming to the event are here to receive one specific need such as signing up for medi-cal or learning about

d.m.v. services, and then of course, most of the people who are tender people experiencing homelessness today. >> i am the representative for the volunteer central. we are the group that checks and all the volunteers that comment participate each day. on a typical day of service, we have anywhere between 40500 volunteers that we, back in, they get t-shirts, nametags, maps, and all the information they need to have a successful event. our participant escorts are a core part of our group, and they are the ones who help participants flow from the different service areas and help them find the different services that they needs. >> one of the ways we work closely with the department of homelessness and supportive housing is by working with homeless outreach teams. they come here, and these are the people that help you get into navigation centers, help you get into short-term shelter, and talk about housing-1st policies. we also work very closely with the department of public health to provide a lot of our services. >> we have all types of things

that volunteers deal do on a day of service. we have folks that help give out lunches in the café, we have folks who help with the check in, getting people when they arrive, making sure that they find the services that they need to, we have folks who help in the check out process, to make sure they get their food bag, bag of groceries, together hygiene kit, and whatever they need to. volunteers, i think of them as the secret sauce that just makes the whole process works smoothly. >> participants are encouraged and welcomed to come with their pets. we do have a pet daycare, so if they want to have their pets stay in the daycare area while they navigate the event, they are welcome to do that, will we also understand some people are more comfortable having their pets with them. they can bring them into the event as well. we also typically offer veterinary services, and it can be a real detriment to coming into an event like this. we also have a bag check.

you don't have to worry about your belongings getting lost, especially when that is all that you have with you. >> we get connected with people who knew they had hearing loss, but they didn't know they could get services to help them with their hearing loss picks and we are getting connected with each other to make sure they are getting supported. >> our next event will be in march, we don't yet have a date set. we typically sap set it six weeks out. the way to volunteer is to follow our newsletter, follow us on social media, or just visit our website. we always announce it right away, and you can register very easily online. >> a lot of people see folks experience a homelessness in the city, and they don't know how they can help, and defence like this gives a whole bunch of people a lot of good opportunities to give back and be supported. [♪]

>> hi, everybody. welcome to laguna honda. [cheering] >> and before we get started, my grandmother spent almost 14 years here at laguna honda, and so many of you took incredible care of miss camelia brown. i want to give a special shout out to denise and so many people here who day in and day out take care of some of our most vulnerable folks that rely on us to care for them every day. we are so grateful to be here with our governor, gavin newsom. [cheers and applause] >> he has already hit the ground

running, and we know from experience of being a former mayor of san francisco, he understands intimately all the challenges that we as a city face, which really is going to be so incredible for our city and cities across the state of california for all the things we know we need to do to change california for the better. laguna honda is a key part of san francisco's health network, which cares for one in eight san franciscans. primarily people who are uninsured, low income, or for -- from our immigrant communities. and includes not only laguna honda, but san francisco general , and smaller clinics across our city, and health services in our county jail. here at laguna honda, more than 1,000 patients each year receive care for complex conditions like

h.i.v. and alzheimer's and dementia, and other mental illnesses and disorders, and we have, for patients who are suffering from strokes or brain injuries, or spinal injuries, or other trauma. these treatments require long-term and specialized care, as so many of you here know, and they commonly include medications as part of the treatment plan. however, it is a well-known fact that these medications are expensive, and can drive up the cost of healthcare for millions of people who need these drugs to survive. the san francisco health network is constantly working to find ways to save money on drug costs for uninsured patients. we work with federal programs like the 340 b. program that provides drugs at a discounted rate for some of our facilities, but facilities like laguna honda , or our county jail, our

behavioral health clinic, they don't qualify for those federal discounts. not to mention the medications used in treatment plans at these facilities are some of the most expensive medications. the health network purchases more than 3,000 drugs for patients who don't qualify for 340 b. discounts, and just the 25 most expensive drugs, of those costs, it because our city more than $17 million each year. when we have people struggling on the streets of san francisco, with mental health challenges and substance use disorders, or people spending thousands of dollars on life-saving medication for h.i.v. and aids, or people fighting a battle with cancer, we need to be focused on helping them recover and heal,

not whether or not they can afford to pay for the medication this is the same case at many healthcare facilities, not only in san francisco, but across the entire state of california and the nation, and this is why i am so thrilled to be joining governor gavin newsom here today to announce a san francisco will be joining the efforts to bring down medication costs in our city. [applause] >> we will work hard to bring down the cost of those medications. we have worked hard over the years, but we know there is so much more that we can do, and by joining forces with other counties across the state, we know that we can make a difference in the lives of millions of patients. we are joined here today by two other bay area counties in

making this commitment, alameda and santa clara county, and please join me in acknowledging our new department of public health director, dr. grant koufax who is here with us today [applause] >> at this time, i would like to call to the podium colleen who has spent about 13 years working for the department of public health in san francisco. she is an incredible health care advocate, now heading up alameda county department of public health. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. it makes me so happy to see so many familiar faces here, and to be able to bring my new county in partnership with my old city and county in this really exciting endeavor. alameda county is pleased to stand with governor newsom to leverage the collective garb -- bargaining power as a state in its counties to lower the cost

of prescription drugs for all californians. i would like to thank the governor for his leadership on this important issue. alameda county's vision 2026 is in alignment with the health forward agenda. vision 2026 is our comprehensive effort to set a course for a decade that anticipates community challenges and maximizes our ability to meet residents's needs in this rapidly changing world. vision 2026 foresees a thriving and resilient population where individuals and communities are empowered to overcome adversity and be supported so they can grow, flourish and be self-sufficient. essential to achieving this vision is our ten goal of healthcare for all, which seeks to ensure that every person in alameda county has access to the care and services they need to live their healthiest lives. governor newsom's collaborative approach to obtaining

prescription drug costs will put us closer to a comprehensive solution for affordable and accessible healthcare for all. collectively, public healthcare providers and other safety net providers in alameda county, spends tens of millions of dollars each year on prescription drugs for our county's most vulnerable residents. while many of these drugs are acquired through the federal 343 b. program which may or breed referenced, drugs purchased for individuals accessing our behavioral health services or our inmates and our jails do not this means that we are surely paying more than we need to for these medications, diverting valuable resources from other safety net programs and services this presents an important opportunity for our county and others to partner with the governor's healthcare team to explore how we can make drugs more affordable in our safety net healthcare system. additionally, this approach will foster regional collaboration

through the sharing of information and protocols and best practices. alameda county is looking forward to partnering with the governor's office, and our county colleagues to explore the promise of this timely endeavor. at this point, i would like to welcome miguel marques, marquez, the chief operating officer for the county of santa clara. [applause] >> thank you, colleen, and thank you governor newsom for inviting slight -- santa clara county to participate in this event and in this work, and thank you mayor breed for hosting this event today. over the years, santa clara county has implement it programs to expand coverage and affordable options that move us closer to providing healthcare for all. indeed, our board of supervisors has officially supported a single payer healthcare system. and santa clara county, we are proud to operate three hospitals , and a dozen clinics located throughout the county. each of which provides

high-quality, integrated healthcare to the 2 million members of our community. like the governor, we know that innovation through the healthcare system, including a path to single payer systems will help us reach our shared vision of better health for all. that is why we are excited by the opportunity to work with the governor and with so many other partners throughout the state to take on the high cost of prescription drugs. year after year, pharmaceutical companies continue to increase the price of brand-name drugs. we all need to ask the question, do prescription drugs really have to be that expensive? wild drug purchasing practices are complex, we must look for and implement innovative solutions to reduce these costs. federal policies have not done enough to control drug prices. in the absence of federal leadership, local and state

government need to partner and need to think creatively about how to leverage our collective buying power to negotiate better prices for our residents. last year, santa clara county valley medical center spent more than $120 million on pharmaceuticals. giving the extrude nearly high cost of prescription drugs, we have been looking for opportunities for savings. we welcome the chance to work with the state and with other partners to explore options to reduce these costs. as you know, public helps it -- health systems play an especially important and unique role in delivering care, services, and treatment to the patient's in the communities we serve, especially the uninsured and the underinsured. we are a safety net healthcare system that is proud to offer top-notch care to all who need it, but to do that, we need to explore all opportunities to reduce costs whenever possible so that our limited resources

can better be spent to help the homeless, the mentally ill, and other vulnerable members of our community. a number of years ago, the county of santa clara was the first county in the nation to ensure that every child, regardless of immigration status , could get healthcare services. we are especially proud to support the governor's efforts to become the first state in the country to provide coverage to young, undocumented adults. thank you, governor for leading the way for these young adults. santa clara county and the state of california have aggressively implemented the affordable care act. it has been a huge success. just a couple of numbers. in santa clara county alone, more than 100,000 -- 140,000 residents gained coverage through this expansion. another 45,000 plus have subsidized coverage through coverage california, that is

just in santa clara county. and most important, the bottom line number, the uninsured rate in santa clara county has dropped by 50 3%. so the time is now to take the next step. we are fortunate to have a governor who is a champion for these important issues. we look forward to working with the governor to make better health for all, california's highest priority. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, miguel. i also would like to take this opportunity to introduce someone who has been a champion for laguna honda, our supervisor for district two, catherine stefani is joining us here today. thank you so much. [applause] >> and now i would like to introduce our governor, who we all know was a former mayor of san francisco, someone who led innovative programs, pushed to

really change san francisco and california for the better, same-sex marriage, he was the one who put forth the idea and opened the doors for so many people to get married at city hall, when so many people attacked them on this issue, and now it is gone global and has been recognized throughout the united states, 311 was just his brainchild, this innovative resource that we use to call to deal with a number of challenges in the city, so many incredible resources that we use today, and now, is a governor in his budget , he will continue to provide the support and the resources that we need to address many of the challenges that exist in san francisco. we also should know that he really led the charge on the rebuild on the hospital to the new facility that we see today. the governor of the state of

california, gavin newsom. [applause] >> thank you, thank you. this is fun coming back. the couple of you were showing me photos ten years ago, pregrey hair, and this is remarkable that this place opened. i remember standing here during the ribbon-cutting, and i think i used a line, which i am now reminded of, at the time we were doing something with a skilled nursing facility. also ten years ago, that was novel and no one was investing in this place. people so the county couldn't afford it and we had to move in a different direction. we get it when it comes to skilled nursing facilities and keeping people in place. we are on the leading and cutting edge and doing something no one else is willing to do. i remember saying that the mayor of athens said, he says, we do

not imitate, for we are a model to others. i say that then, nine plus years ago, i will say it again today in the context in the spirit that brings us here together around the issue of prescription drugs. we do not imitate because we are a model to others what we are advancing here today is new, what we are advancing here today matters what we're doing today is what i expect others to be doing tomorrow, not just other counties joining california's purchasing pole, but other states joining california's purchasing pool. leveraging our resources, big buyers mean lower costs. the fact is, in the state of california, 13 plus billion dollars a year, your tax dollars are currently being spent on

prescription drugs. i will repeat that, 13 plus billion dollars a year. the problem is, we were isolating the purchasing. we had jails doing their purchasing, we had the state hospitals doing their purchasing , we had our retirement system doing their purchasing, we had the va doing their purchasing, we had our medi-cal system, which is 13 million strong, we were only leveraging 2 million of those 13 million in our purchasing pool. just combining the medi-cal system alone, taking the 2 billion and leveraging the purchasing now with 13 billion is going to drive hundreds of millions of dollars of savings on an annual basis. we project in our budget that we just submitted a few weeks back, or a week or so ago, that we will save conservatively $393 million because of this

purchasing effort. that's just on an annual basis, $400 million of money that we otherwise would spend that would allow us to provide discounts, to provide additional subsidies to reduce those costs each to each and every one of you. if we are not curious about these drugs, we are not curious about addressing the cost as it relates to the issue of healthcare inflation. this is one of the principal drivers. we have seen close to doubling of our costs in the state, doubling of our cost in the state, just in the last nine years. this cannot continue. with all due respect to big pharma, i have no problem, no gripe with people being successful, i don't begrudge success, i appreciate competition, i appreciate research, i appreciate the kind of innovation that we pride ourselves on, but i don't like people taking advantage of other people.

i don't like gouging, i don't like windfalls, i don't like folks, you know, getting massive bonuses and, you know, at the expense of folks that are struggling on the streets and the sidewalks. this is a foundational principle , it is a value i know laguna honda community shares. it is a value that san franciscans share, it is of value the mayor shares, it is shared broadly throughout this state and substantial of lee, around this region in santa clara, in alameda, that value now is being brought to the forward in terms of counties joining the state purchasing pool. we had hoped this would happen in a year or two, maybe three, but here we are, just weeks after announcing l.a. county joining our purchasing pool, no three additional counties are joining the purchasing pool. this is remarkable. the momentum is real, and this is exciting because we are

actually making progress in realtime. this is not just platitudes, this is not just a tweet, this is not just a promotion, it is not just a promise, we are seeing things happen in realtime , so i just want to thank the enlightened leadership that you heard from today. they didn't need to do this, it was wise to do it, but they didn't need to do it, but the fact that they are doing it, and they are doing it on the front end, is an extraordinary testament to mayor breed's commitment not passing interest to bring down the cost of prescription drugs and the cost of healthcare in this county. colleen's commitment and miguel 's commitment to do the same is a big deal, so i don't want to undersell this moment. i want to appropriately sell it. i want to overhyped -- i don't want to overhyped it, but this is significant. we have governors calling this state wanting to join our

efforts. we believe this is the beginning of a different frame of momentum not top-down, god bless watching congress, pretzels trying to deal with big pharma, this is bottom up. it is a new frame. i will tell you, a california, we just reached at $3 trillion year mar. we punch above our rate, and there are only four nations on planet earth that carry more wait then the state of california. we are truly a nationstate, the fifth largest economy in the world, the united states is one of those economies ahead of us, only a few others that have the capacity to do what we are doing as a state. now the second largest purchaser outside the v.a. and the united states itself in the country. this is important. i want to express and acknowledge the hard work of our team in sacramento that is working overtime to get this right, to make sure we do it right.

i want to thank the counties for building that momentum, and i want you all to know that we are inviting the private sector to join our purchasing pools. we want to see companies large and small also join in and take advantage of our ability to leverage and to sit at that table as one purchaser, not just aggregated as thousands of purchasers. we are formed -- where pharma has the power, now we are taking back that power and we are leveraging that power over the table. hugh merrow costs 96% more in the united states than it does in the u.k. some medications are 100% more then the folks in the u.k. give me a break. with all due respect, it is not just about well, we do the research on the development, we have to pay for that, the people who do the most research and the development are people like you. through our grants, through our tax dollars. they leverage those, they supplement those, and we are

proud of that research. but give me a break. they do it because they can. they do it because no one is pushing back. they do it because they leverage influence of the people like me. they come in with a lot of money and they come into leverage their point of view and they usually scare folks instead of doing the right thing, but they can't scare the leaders assembled behind me, and the cannot change the trajectory of a state that says, we have had enough. we are better than this. we will do more and we are going to leverage our voice in a way that respects the people of this state that we represent, so thank you all for coming out. thank you for being part of this announcement and all this extraordinary momentum and know this, in closing, this is just one of many things the state of california is doing to expand healthcare in this state. our budget, briefly, is going to

expand coverage regardless of your immigration status. our budget will double substantially and increase by doubling our annual contribution and our medi-cal system through proposition 56. forgive me for boring you on that, but we will increase our reimbursement rates, more trauma screenings, more early screenings to address issues before they manifest, we are going to deepen subsidies for low income families on the health exchange, and expand subsidies into the middle class. the only state in america that is expanding subsidies for families earning up to $150,000 a year. we are very proud of these efforts. our goal is universal. our goal is to get this done through a single parent financing system, but until we advance those ideals, we will build pragmatic steps, make progress each and every week until we ultimately get to those

goals. thank you, san francisco, thank you to mother nature for adding a little energy, thank you mayor breed for hosting us here today. [applause]. >> thank you. >> i don't know if there are questions, how do you want to do this? i will let the electives go, and supervisor, very wonderful you are here as well. any questions, we will do it out here. we will let you all go. thank you, guys, very much. [applause]

>> good afternoon and welcome to the land use and transportation committee of the san francisco board of supervisors for today, monday may 20th, 2019. i am the chair. joined to the left, matt haney, and vice chair supervisor who will be sitting to my right. our clerk is erica major. do you have any announcements? >> please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices. completed speaker cards and come copies of documents should be submitted to the clerk. items acted upon will appear on the june 4th, board of supervisors agenda unless otherwise stated. >> thank