San Francisco repeals ban on doing business with states with discriminatory policies

As a result of the recent shift in abortion policies, the city was prohibited from contracting with companies located in over half the states in the U.S., including small businesses owned by women, LGBTQ+ people and people of color.

In February, the City Administrator’s Office concluded in an analysis of the legislation that the ban has added “additional administrative burden” to staff, vendors and citizens, while doing little to make an economic or political impact on other states.

Proponents argue that dropping the ban will increase contractor competition and lower costs, which will make it easier to complete construction projects.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, the former city supervisor who initially authored 12X, also expressed his support for the repeal. Supervisor Shamann Walton said that there are still too many “unintended consequences” to repealing Chapter 12X entirely, as there was no analysis on the effects it could have on small businesses. He said it was also unclear what this repeal would solve, since there are already exemptions in the policy.

Walton was joined by Supervisors Dean Preston, Connie Chan and Myrna Melgar in voting in opposition to the repeal.

The legislation is scheduled to receive a final vote next week before it heads to Mayor London Breed’s desk for a signature.