Despite Heated Campaign, Campos and Haney Aligned on Key Legislation

The runoff campaign for a state Assembly seat representing the east side of San Francisco has become a fractious affair typical of politics in this city.

In the month since the primary election, Democrats Matt Haney, currently a member of the city's Board of Supervisors, and David Campos, a former supervisor, have assailed each other's records and credentials. Campos has blamed Haney for not adequately addressing rampant public health and homelessness issues in the Tenderloin neighborhood he represents. Haney, meanwhile, successfully sued Campos over his ballot designation, calling it misleading. A judge agreed, forcing Campos to change his title from "civil rights attorney" to "criminal justice administrator."

But both Assembly District 17 candidates, running to fill out the remainder of former Assemblymember David Chiu's term, are likely to bring a similar perspective on key issues currently before the Legislature. And the winner of the April 19 runoff will take office in time to cast crucial votes on high-profile bills, some of which have divided members of the Democratic caucus.

Below are some of the issues Campos and Haney see eye-to-eye on, according to their responses to a questionnaire from KQED.

CARE courts

Both Campos and Haney say they support Gov. Gavin Newsom's recently announced plan, called CARE court, to assist Californians suffering from severe mental health issues or substance use disorders. The proposal would require each county in the state to create a mental health branch of civil court with the authority to order outpatient care, that, if rejected, could lead to more restrictive forced hospitalizations or conservatorships.

"I support the idea of requiring every county to do something," Campos said in an interview. "I think that there are some instances where people may not be able to decide for themselves if something is appropriate for them."

Some civil liberties advocates have bristled at the idea of compelling treatment, and are urging that the government's focus and resources instead be directed toward voluntary treatment.

But in justifying his support for the bill, Haney told KQED, "[T]he current system is failing, it's not getting those people into care."

Housing

Housing was a major flashpoint in the primary election, when Haney finished just 726 votes ahead of Campos, a margin thin enough to trigger the runoff.

The two sparred over a proposed development in San Francisco, which Haney supported, but ultimately was voted down by the Board of Supervisors. Meanwhile, endorsements from housing groups have split along familiar lines, with Haney gaining the backing of homebuilders and "yes in my backyard" (YIMBY) groups, while Campos is supported by the city's tenants union.

But Campos agrees with Haney on two bills championed by YIMBYs: one to ban parking requirements for new developments near transit (Assembly Bill 2097) and another (Senate Bill 886) to exempt student housing and faculty housing from environmental review.

"I think that if there are things that we can do to help ease the way in which housing is approved and created, I'm all for that," Campos said.

The two candidates also both support an ambitious plan to give the state a greater role in actually developing housing. The "social housing" policy in Assembly Bill 2053 would set up a state agency to build and acquire government housing for different income levels. Haney said he will be introducing a resolution at a future Board of Supervisors meeting in support of the bill.

"We know that we have to build a lot more housing at all [income] levels of all types," Haney said. "That means both market-rate housing and also a lot more housing that is subsidized, that is built by the government, that is built by nonprofits and that ensures a true affordability."

Haney and Campos also both back Assembly Bill 2469, which would create a state registry of information about rental properties, owners and tenants. Versions of the proposal have been defeated in three consecutive years, after facing opposition from landlord groups that have raised concerns over privacy.

And the policy harmony between the two extends to their support of a proposal that critics contend will stifle housing development: Assembly Bill 1001, a bill that expands the scope of the California Environmental Quality Act to consider environmental justice concerns and ensure that mitigation of a polluting project happens in the community where the project is located, not elsewhere.

COVID-19 response

Past attempts to tighten vaccine requirements have been met with protests at the Capitol and attempts to intimidate lawmakers. But both Haney and Campos said they would join Democrats in the Legislature to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations in the workplace (Assembly Bill 1993) while also eliminating the ability of K-12 public school students to use personal belief exemptions to avoid vaccinations (Senate Bill 871).

"I think it absolutely would make sense to have a vaccination requirement and to not allow for the personal belief exemption, which I think is so often misused," Haney said.

Campos agreed.

"Everyone has the right to their opinion, but that right ends when their actions infringe upon the rights of other people," he said. "And in this particular case, someone not getting the vaccine is something that could hurt other people, their fellow Californians."

Education

Perhaps the biggest change in education policy introduced in the Legislature this year is Senate Bill 830, legislation to revamp how the state funds the thousands of K-12 schools in California.

Haney and Campos said it's time for the state to move away from the current model of calculating funding based on average daily attendance, and instead start giving schools money based on their total enrollment. While truancy is a top concern about any system that isn't built on attendance, the candidates say the switch will add more predictability and resources for school districts.

"The level of uncertainty that the current funding structure creates, I think, is a reason why we should go to a different model that has more stability, that allows districts to plan, that doesn't really have a sort of a strange fluctuation," Haney said.

Theft and shoplifting

With voters' concerns about crime on the rise, some Democrats in the Legislature have signaled they are open to tweaking Proposition 47, the state's landmark criminal justice reform law that voters widely approved in 2014.

While a proposed wholesale reversal of the law was quickly voted down last week, Assembly Bill 1603 (written by Bakersfield Democrat Rudy Salas) seeks to lower the dollar threshold at which larceny would switch from being a misdemeanor to a possible felony.

Both Assembly candidates, however, oppose bringing such a change back to the voters, who would need to approve it.

"No one wants to give a green light to retail theft, no one wants to let people do whatever they want without consequences," Campos said. "But I don't think that this is the way to deal with it."