NOVEMBER 2024 VOTER GUIDE
NO ON PROP I
Retirement Benefits for Nurses and 911 Operators
ENDORSE-O-METER SAYS: NO
San Francisco’s nurses and 911 dispatchers are seriously understaffed, and it’s damaging the city’s ability to respond to emergencies and provide care in hospitals. Supervisor Ahsha Safaí’s measure tries to fix these staffing shortages with extra retirement benefits to incentivize more people to enter and stay in these fields. But these new benefits don’t address the reason for the problem—that being the sheer amount of time it takes to hire new employees. We’re voting no on Proposition I because it’s not the right approach and it might not even improve staffing levels that much.
The Context
There’s a severe shortage of nurses and 911 dispatchers in San Francisco, with 20 percent of 911 dispatcher positions and an estimated 13 percent of nursing positions vacant. Supervisor Ahsha Safaí’s legislation tries to boost staffing levels at these positions with two incentives. The first would allow temporary nurses to buy back years of pension service time when they switch to full-time work. The second would change the employee classification for 911 dispatchers to increase retirement benefits.
These extra benefits might incentivize some nurses and 911 dispatchers to stick around in San Francisco, rather than leaving for greener pastures. But this isn’t a distinctly San Francisco problem—the entire state of California is dealing with these staffing shortages. And Supervisor Safaí’s measure would increase San Francisco’s pension liability costs, something the city can’t afford with the massive budget deficit. A better way to solve staffing shortages would be to streamline the hiring process. Currently, temporary nurses are forced to wait months to get full-time positions, even in understaffed hospitals.
The Money
This measure would cost between $3.8 million to $6.7 million annually in the first year, with annual costs increasing over time. It was also amended to remove an estimated $56.9 million unfunded pension liability which would have been created for an estimated 1,400 nurses eligible to participate in this program.
Support & Opposition
Proposition I has support from measure author Ahsha Safaí, District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan, District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, and District 11 Supervisor Shamann Walton, plus labor union SEIU.
Other Organizations That Share Our Endorsement: The Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club.
Paid for by TogetherSF Action. Not authorized by any candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate. Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.