San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee Meeting - April 8, 2026
San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee Meeting - April 8, 2026
The Budget and Finance Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors met on April 8, 2026, at City Hall. The meeting was chaired by Supervisor Connie Chang, with Vice Chair Matt Dorsey and Member Danny Souter present. The committee considered seven resolutions authorizing contracts and grants, and held a hearing on denial of health care by Blue Shield. All seven resolutions were approved and referred to the full Board of Supervisors. The hearing was continued to the call of the chair.
Resolutions Approved (Items 1-7)
- Item 1: Resolution approving modification to an airport security services contract with Covenant Aviation Security LLC, increasing the contract amount by $10.5 million to a total not-to-exceed $20.3 million and extending the term through June 30, 2028. The contract provides non-passenger security screening at SFO. Approved unanimously.
- Item 2: Resolution authorizing Clean Power SF to participate in the Willow Rock Long Duration Storage Project via California Community Power (CC Power). The 20-year agreement, beginning July 2030, has a total not-to-exceed cost of $75.9 million ($3.8 million per year) for an 11.5 MW share of a compressed-air energy storage facility. Approved unanimously.
- Item 3: Resolution authorizing the Department of Technology to enter into a third amendment with Mythics LLC for Oracle products and cloud solutions. The amendment increases the contract by approximately $34.6 million to a total not-to-exceed $94.6 million, and extends the term through November 30, 2028. The negotiated price increases are 4% for on-premise software and 5% for cloud products, below market increases of 8-10%. Approved unanimously.
- Item 4: Resolution retroactively authorizing the Department of Public Health to accept a $7.9 million grant from the California Board of State and Community Corrections for Proposition 47 Cohort 5. The grant funds withdrawal management, residential, and step-down services for justice-involved individuals with co-occurring substance use and mental health needs, including 10 detox beds and 18 residential beds at Salvation Army Harbor Lights, and 15 step-down beds at Health Right 360. A $2 million city match is required. Approved unanimously.
- Item 5: Resolution retroactively authorizing the Public Defender's Office to accept an $850,000 grant from the Office of the State Public Defender for its post-conviction unit (Freedom Project). The grant funds two senior social worker positions to support resentencing and re-entry services for individuals serving long prison sentences. Since 2020, the unit has brought home 105 individuals. Approved unanimously.
- Item 6: Resolution authorizing the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development to jointly apply with 629 Post LLC and Swords to Plowshares Veterans Rights Organization for a Home Key Plus grant of $15.8 million from the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The grant will rehabilitate 629 Post Street (Sheldon Hotel) into 63 units of permanent supportive housing for unhoused and formerly unhoused veterans, including seismic upgrades and ADA improvements. Construction is anticipated to begin November 2026. Approved unanimously.
- Item 7: Resolution retroactively authorizing the City Attorney's Office to accept a $600,000 grant from the California Department of Industrial Relations for the Workers' Rights Enforcement Grant Program. The grant funds enforcement of state labor laws and combating wage theft. In the current grant period, the office has secured over $5 million in restitution for workers. Approved unanimously.
Hearing on Denial of Health Care by Blue Shield (Item 8)
The committee held a hearing concerning denials of health care, including cancer care, for San Francisco workers, retirees, and their families by Blue Shield of California. The hearing included presentations from the San Francisco Health Service System (SFHSS), Protect Our Benefits, and Blue Shield, followed by public testimony.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Fred Sanchez (President, Protect Our Benefits): Described multiple cases of delayed or denied care, including a retired firefighter with lung cancer whose treatment was delayed four days despite urgency. He called for streamlined processes and direct meetings with Blue Shield.
- Helen Horvath (retired firefighter paramedic): Testified that her husband Ken Jones, a retired firefighter with stage IV metastatic lung cancer, was denied treatment prescribed by his oncologist at UCSF. The denial forced them to switch to straight Medicare; they incurred $50,000 in out-of-pocket costs covered by GoFundMe.
- Teresa Palmer (retired city employee, geriatrician): Reported denial of pain medications after knee replacement surgery, jeopardizing rehabilitation.
- Miriam Pengal (retired police lieutenant): Described repeated denials for a knee replacement revision, requiring numerous appeals and phone calls.
- Tim O'Brien (Secretary Treasurer, Retired Firefighters and Spouses Association): Cited a case of delayed approval for osteoporosis injections for a cancer survivor.
- Mindy Talmage (retired firefighter): Criticized Medicare Advantage plans for requiring prior authorization and urged the city to offer original Medicare.
- Adam Wood (VP, San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation): Noted that cancer is the number one cause of work-related death for firefighters and that denials delay critical treatment.
- Juanita Stockwell (retired police officer): Described repeated denials for knee injections for Irene Braun, a retired officer, and urged the committee to track denial rates.
- Ken Jones (retired firefighter): Stated that treatment delays from Blue Shield will shorten his life.
- Herbert Weiner (retired social worker): Reported premature discharge from a skilled nursing facility despite medical instability.
Blue Shield Presentation
- Tim Leib (SVP, Commercial Markets) and Dr. Kay Judge (Chief Medical Officer) presented. They acknowledged gaps in phone support and prior authorization processes. They announced that effective January 2026, Blue Shield implemented proactive peer-to-peer outreach for oncology denials, where a board-certified oncologist contacts the treating physician before any denial. They also committed to improving customer service and agreed to meet with Protect Our Benefits.
Discussion and Directives
- Chair Chang expressed disappointment that SFHSS's presentation focused on legal limitations rather than solutions. She directed SFHSS to:
- Track claim response times and denial rates across all health plan vendors.
- Require vendors to categorize denials as administrative or care-related, and provide data with an affidavit.
- Develop mechanisms to track members whose claims are denied and who do not receive care.
- Chair requested Blue Shield to provide a dedicated hotline for retirees facing denials at the point of care.
- The hearing was continued to the call of the chair, with expectations of a follow-up in May or June.
Key Outcomes
- All seven resolutions (Items 1-7) were approved unanimously and referred to the full Board of Supervisors, expected on April 14, 2026.
- The hearing on Blue Shield denials (Item 8) was continued to the call of the chair.
- Blue Shield committed to meeting with Protect Our Benefits by the end of April 2026 to establish a streamlined process for retirees.
- SFHSS will work on providing requested data on denial rates, response times, and resolution categories for all health plan vendors.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the April 8, 2026 meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee. I'm Supervisor Connie Chang, Chair of the Committee. I'm joined by Vice Chair, Supervisor Matt Dorsey, and Member Supervisor Danny Souter. Our clerk, it's Brent Halipa. I would like to thank uh Kalina Mendoza from SFGov TV for broadcasting this meeting. Mr. Clark, do you have any announcement? Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a friendly reminder to those in attendance. To please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices to prevent interruptions to our proceedings. Should you have any documents to be included as part of the file, they should be submitted to myself, the clerk. Public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda. When your item of interest comes up in public comment is called, please line up to speak on the west side of the chamber to your right, my left along those curtains. And while not required to provide public comment, we do invite you to fill out a comment card and leave them on the trade by the television to your left by the doors if you wish for your name to be accurately recorded for the minutes. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. Email them to myself, the budget and finance committee clerk at B R E N T dot J A L I P A Hat SFGO V dot ORG. If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and also included as part of the official file. You may also send your written comments via U.S. Postal Service to our office in City Hall at one. Dr. Carlton be good place. Room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102. And finally, Madam Chair, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of April 14th, unless otherwise stated. Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And before we call item number one, I would uh again remind the public that we have budget and legislative analyst reports for items one through four today. And for those items, we will have the department presentation first by and then followed by the budget and legislative analyst. Then we will take questions and public comments. Mr. Clark, with that, please call item number one. Yes, item number one is a resolution approving modification number one to a professional services agreement for general airport security services between Covenant Aviation Security LLC and the city and county acting by and through its airport commission to increase the contract amount by 10.5 million for a total not to exceed amount of 20.3 million and to extend the contract term for two years from June 30th, 2026 for a new contract term of July 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2028, with one remaining option to extend for two additional years pursuant to the charter. Madam Chair. Thank you, and we have SFO here. Good morning, Deanna Volick from SFO. The item before you seeks approval for modification number one to an existing contract between the airport and Covenant Aviation Security LLC for General Airport Security Services to increase the not-to-exceed mount by 10.5 million and exercise the first option to extend the term through June 30th, 2028. This is a general aviation security service contract with Covenant Aviation for screening of merchandise and consumables entering airport sterile areas via vendor screening checkpoints. This contract also provides security for airport exit lanes when checkpoints are not are closed and not staffed by TSA and at all times at exit lanes not adjacent to TSA passenger screening checkpoints. This contract is also essential to provide trained personnel to conduct aviation worker screening at designated airport director act direct access points as required by TSA's Airport Security Program or ASP. All commercial airports are required to provide trained personnel and inspection services throughout airport terminals and exits to comply with requirements of the TSA approved ASP and TSA security directives. This contract does not perform passenger or checked baggage screening and includ includes compliance with all city laws that do not conflict with federal requirements. Covenant has performed satisfactorily in all its contractual obligations at SFO. The BLA has recommended approval, and I'm happy to answer any questions along with my colleagues from operations and security. The amendment uh increases the value of the contract to 20.3 million dollars and extends the agreement through June 2028. Covenant provides um non-passenger airport security uh to entrances uh to the secure area at the airport. This amendment also increases the staffing from 51 staff to 57 staff starting next fiscal year. The contractor's performance is primarily based on uh complying with the number of TSA required randomized uh screenings that they do, and they are complying with that with those requirements according to the airport. And then on page five of our report, you can see the kind of annual spending on the contract is about 5.7 million dollars next year, and those costs are funded by airport operating revenues.
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