BALLOT BOUND: San Francisco leaders are sharply divided over a proposal to quire drug screening and treatment for welfare recipients — but Mayor London Breed isn’t ruling out the option of taking the idea directly to voters. Breed, who faces a tough reelection campaign next year, unveiled her plan this week to mandate that all applicants undergo screening — and accept treatment, if needed —in order to be eligible for county-funded cash assistance. Her proposal would require the support of the progressive-leaning Board of Supervisors. That is, unless Breed decides to go around the board and use her mayoral authority to pursue it through a 2024 ballot initiative. It’s perhaps telling that Breed floated her plan three weeks before the Oct. 17 deadline to submit a measure for the March ballot. Jeff Cretan, Breed’s spokesperson, declined to comment on the prospect. He told Playbook, however, that while many on the Board “have chosen outright opposition,” the mood among voters could be different. “The residents of San Francisco clearly want change, they clearly want action,” he said. Some progressive critics have balked at Breed’s proposal, as well as the notion that San Francisco voters might support it. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, a progressive and potential rival in the mayoral race, said it “feels like a political gimmick.” He said Breed has not provided a written proposal, let alone explained how she would pay for it or provide enough treatment beds. “If it’s some kind of Ronald Reagan or Donald Trump nonsense, I imagine that the Board of Supervisors will say no,” Peskin said, “and if the mayor wants to take it to the ballot, I imagine the voters of San Francisco will also say no.” Breed’s proposal was a shocking move for the mayor of San Francisco, perhaps the most liberal big city in America. She announced it on the same morning that Daniel Lurie, a Democrat and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, announced he will challenge her in next year’s election. Several progressive members of the board assailed Breed’s plan at a meeting this week, as The San Francisco Standard reported. Hillary Ronen called it “disturbing” — and Connie Chan pointedly asked, “Am I living in Texas, or am I living in San Francisco?” But several of Breed’s allies on the board have vouched for the plan, or hinted a ballot fight is likely. Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said “it would probably be pretty popular as a ballot measure if it goes there.” About 5,200 people are on San Francisco's cash assistance program for indigent single adults. Roughly 20 percent of them have disclosed they have a substance abuse problem. Recipients with stable housing can receive a maximum of $687 per month. Homeless participants receive a maximum monthly stipend of $105 and a shelter bed under the “Care Not Cash” ballot initiative that passed in 2002 (which was spearheaded by then-Supervisor Gavin Newsom). Trent Rhorer, executive director of the city’s Human Services Agency, said the mayor’s plan has been misconstrued by critics who are drawing comparisons to Republican welfare proposals of the 1990s. Rhorer said not all welfare recipients will be drug tested, and that only those who self-disclose an addiction or exhibit signs of it during an initial screening would be evaluated further. He said they would only need to accept treatment to be eligible for cash assistance, adding, “They could still be actively using drugs, and many in treatment programs do.” —with help from Rachel Bluth HAPPY THURSDAY AFTERNOON! Welcome to California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check of California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to dgardiner@politico.com or send a shout on Twitter. DMs are open!
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