About 90% of the funding cuts proposed in SF Mayor Daniel Lurie’s original city budget plan were reversed in a deal negotiated by the Board of Supes’ budget committee Thursday, with much of the credit going toward Supervisor Connie Chan.

Supervisors wrapped up negotiations on the city's $16.9 billion budget Thursday, reaching a deal weeks earlier than usual and restoring $28.5 million in proposed cuts to social programs over the next two years, as the Chronicle reports. Board President Rafael Mandelman said it was the earliest budget agreement he'd seen in his eight years on the board, crediting Budget Chair Connie Chan's negotiating skills.

Mandelman highlighted Chan's “ability to both terrorize people at the right moment and also negotiate and cajole and bring colleagues together and figure out what different folks need, in their districts.”

According to Mission Local, Mandelman also noted there was simply "less to fight about" after years of previous cuts and Mayor Daniel Lurie's decision to lay off 127 city workers in April rather than hash out layoffs during budget season.

The restored funding includes $5.6 million to keep Free City College at its current level, preserving cash grants that help thousands of low-income students cover books, transportation, and other basic expenses while attending school, per the Chronicle. Chan, a member of the Free City College Oversight Committe, shared a reel celebrating Thursday's win.

Supervisors also reinstated funding for HIV prevention programs, LGBTQ+ services, and the Workers' Rights Community Collaborative, which provides wage-theft and labor-law assistance in more than a dozen languages.

Advocates and nonprofit leaders celebrated the agreement. Anya Worley-Ziegmann, coordinator of the People’s Budget Coalition, which advocates against cuts to nonprofit funding, called the final deal a major victory.

“Given the context of it being one of the worst budget years when we were starting out, now it’s one of the best that we’ve ever seen,” Worley-Ziegmann said, speaking to Mission Local. “We got back 90 percent of what we were fighting for.”

As SFist reported last month, the People's Budget Coalition and several other groups hand-delivered 1,500 handwritten postcards to Mayor Lurie, urging him to reverse the cuts.

Supervisors reportedly trimmed spending elsewhere in Lurie's proposal to accommodate the restorations, including reducing funding set aside for city pickup trucks after learning they could be purchased for less.

“During this budget process, we worked to protect our most vulnerable populations,” said Chan, per the Chronicle, “reversing cuts to direct services and community support collectively with everyone in this room and also those who have been outside on the streets fighting for it.”

The full Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the budget July 21 before it heads to Mayor Daniel Lurie for final approval.

Previously: Hundreds Hand-Deliver Postcards to City Hall Urging Lurie to Stop Budget Cuts

Image: Connie Chan/Facebook