In early 2026, the Policy Division initiated work on this project to address issues identified in recent years, particularly during the 2024 election cycle. This project is currently in progress.
In April of 2026, Policy Staff presented the Commission with recommendations to reinforce contribution limits and ensure accountability for violations of City law. This project focuses primarily on shortcomings in current City law that undermine the City’s candidate contribution limit. These gaps in the current rules have been underscored in recent enforcement matters and identified through compliance questions posed to the Commission. The project also seeks to ensure that when City elective officers are found to have violated ethics or campaign finance-related rules, they cannot avoid existing gift rules and accountability by shifting their penalty burdens to committee contributors.
In brief, the report makes the following recommendations:
- Apply the City’s candidate contribution limit to other types of candidate-controlled committees whenever those committees are controlled by a candidate actively running for City elective office.
- Specify that if a third party spends money to republish a candidate’s campaign materials, that spending should be considered a contribution to that candidate and be subject to the City’s candidate contribution limit.
- Establish limits on City elective officers using committee funds to pay penalties issued for violations of the Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code (C&GCC).
The recommendations from this project led to the creation of File No. 261017. At the Ethics Commission’s meeting on Friday, August 14, 2026, the Commission unanimously (4-0) approved the ordinance. The legislation has since been introduced at the Board of Supervisors and is being sponsored by Supervisor Fielder and Supervisor Dorsey. Commission staff are currently in the process of meeting with other members of the Board and other stakeholders on this legislation. The legislation has been assigned to the Rules Committee and should be considered there soon. This legislation requires supermajority approval from both the Ethics Commission and the Board of Supervisors to be enacted.
Links Related to this Policy Project
Interested Persons Meeting Announcements:
- Interested Persons Meetings to Discuss Potential Changes to City Rules Regarding Campaign Finance and Committee Coordination – 03/3/2026 and 03/6/2026
Staff Reports & Resources:
- Policy Report: Proposed Campaign Finance Reforms to Reinforce Contribution Limits and Ensure Accountability for Violations of City Law – 04/10/2026
- Presentation: Campaign Finance Project Preview – 04/10/2026
- Staff Memo on Legislation Regarding Campaign Finance Reforms to Reinforce Contribution Limits and Ensure Accountability for Violations of City Law – 08/14/2026
Legislation:
- File No. 261017 regarding campaign contribution limits for other types of candidate-controlled committees and limits on the use of committee funds to pay administrative or ethics penalties.
- Status: Under consideration by Board of Supervisors.
Key Commission Meetings:
- April 10th, 2026: Report & Discussion on Proposed Campaign Finance Reforms to Reinforce Contribution Limits and Ensure Accountability for Violations of City Law. This item on the agenda was informational and did not require action by the Commission. (Agenda | Meeting Minutes | Summary)
- August 14th, 2026: Presentation, discussion and possible action on Staff recommendations on Proposed Campaign Finance Reforms to Reinforce Contribution Limits and Ensure Accountability for Violations of City Law. The Commission approved the ordinance (File No. 261017) by a vote of 5-0. (Agenda | Meeting Minutes | Summary)
For updates on this policy project, subscribe to the Commission’s meeting notices and agendas by joining our Interested Persons E-mail List. Additionally, all policy and legislative items the Ethics Commission considers are posted to an agenda prior to the public meeting in which they are discussed and acted upon.
Please contact Policy and Legislative Affairs Manager Michael Canning at Michael.A.Canning@sfgov.org for more information about this project or the Commission’s other policy efforts.