S.F. supervisor proposes Zohran Mamdani-inspired ‘Affordable Groceries Act’

Supervisor Bilal Mahmood announced a package of legislation today designed to make groceries more affordable and accessible in San Francisco. 

The plans, collectively known as the “Affordable Groceries Act,” are designed to “comprehensively address both food inflation as well as the food crisis that we’re facing in San Francisco,” said Mahmood.

They include two measures that he is seeking to get on the ballot for the November election, and two ordinances that he means to pass at the Board of Supervisors.

Mahmood said the measures were inspired by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s work in New York City. They will create a new fund to subsidize groceries in the city, and combine tax breaks and penalties to combat vacant grocery and pharmacy storefronts, which Mahmood calls “zombie stores.”

The first ballot measure, Mahmood said, “is a combination of carrots and sticks.” It would tax what he called “corporate land squatters,” or large companies (with 100 or more locations in the US) that hold vacant grocery or pharmacy plots in the city. 

“If a CVS or Walgreens and Safeway leaves a store, those are the people we would tax,” Mahmood said. “You’re taking a community benefit from the neighborhood … we want to incentivize them to actually move forward to activate that place.” 

The carrot aspect would encourage businesses to take over “abandoned” pharmacies or grocery stores by streamlining the permitting process and eliminating requirements for conditional use authorizations. Mahmood said this would shorten processing times for new businesses by six months. 

Another measure comes with an additional carrot: Mahmood also intends to draft a city ordinance eliminating gross receipts taxes for pharmacies taking over empty spaces in the city. 

The vacancy tax revenue collected, Mahmood said, could go toward a second ballot measure, which seeks to create an “Affordable Grocery Fund” that could direct money to various programs intended to bring cheaper groceries to the city.

The fund could be used to offer assistance for corner stores to convert into full groceries, subsidize rent for grocers who sell at lower prices, or help the city to acquire buildings that could be used for food programs. 

Mahmood told Mission Local that he is awaiting a controller’s report and doesn’t know yet how much money the tax could raise, but expects “single-digit millions.” 

The plans laid out by Mahmood have significant differences from those in New York City.  

“We’re learning from what they have already done on the ground and what has been what has been cost-effective and effective from an operational perspective,” Mahmood said. 

Under Mahmood’s plan, grocery stores won’t be city-run like the free community market in Bayview, or as they are under Mamdani’s plan for a municipal grocery in every borough of New York City.

But store owners could access grants, forgivable loans, or subsidized rent through the fund. Mahmood plans to write an accompanying ordinance that will create a task force to decide how to spend money in the fund.

And, while Mamdani has set aside some $70 million in capital funds for the development of new grocery stores, San Francisco’s fund would start out empty, but could be filled by the city or philanthropic donations. 

Mahmood said he worked closely with labor and food justice organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Action Coalition Towards Sovereignty, to develop the package.

He was also inspired by the Healthy Food Retailer Incentives program that began in San Francisco over a decade ago and had lasting impact in neighborhoods like the Tenderloin. 

While the Tenderloin still has no full-service grocery store or pharmacy, the healthy retail program offered financial support to help convert corner stores selling packaged foods and tobacco into healthier ones.

Mahmood said four stores permanently converted in the Tenderloin from typical corner stores to selling fresh produce, but funds for the program have since run out. 

“That’s the type of investment the affordable grocery fund can do as well,” Mahmood said. “These are one-time investments that have a permanent transformation of a neighborhood.” 

Mahmood says he has support from supervisors Myrna Melgar, Stephen Sherrill, Danny Sauter, and Chyanne Chen as co-sponsors, which means that the measures are likely to advance to the ballot.