The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee voted unanimously yesterday to merge two proposals aimed at provided universal health care to San Franciscans. Mayor Gavin Newsom's proposal, which he co-wrote with a panel of experts and some Supervisors, contained the framework for the plan, but according to testimony from both the Budget Analyst and Public Health Director Mitch Katz, it lacked sufficient funding to work. Supervisor Tom Ammiano's proposal solves that problem by requiring businesses with more than 20 employees to cover part of the cost of their employee's health care. All eyes now turn to Newsom, who must choose between passing universal healthcare to win national acclaim or opposing the measure to satisfy the city's business community.

Yesterday's hearing began amid national press attention directed towards Newsom for his creation of a universal health care system for San Francisco. The reports, however, omitted one key fact - the plan lacked a source of funding.

"It's a one-winged aircraft that doesn't fly," said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi of the Mayor's proposal, and testimony from both the Budget Analyst and Katz backed this claim up.

"The proposed ordinance does not include implementation and administrative mechanisms," said a Budget Analyst representative. "There are no specific funding sources." When Supervisor Chris Daly asked Katz directly if he thought the Mayor's proposal would work on its own because of this lack of funding, Katz replied that it wouldn't.

National press accounts also failed to report a sister piece of legislation to Newsom's that was on the table - Ammiano's proposal to make businesses pay their share of the cost of providing universal health care. The Ammiano plan, which requires businesses to pay different amounts depending on their size, would bring in $30 to $49 million a year in new revenue to pay for Newsom's plan.

While Newsom remained unable to explain exactly how he would pay for his proposal, claiming the details could be worked out later, he declared his opposition to Ammiano's funding plan. The Mayor's statement likely came due to the urging of the city's business community, which turned out in force at yesterday's hearing to declare their opposition to Ammiano's legislation.

The merging of the two proposals, however, will now force Newsom's hand. He must choose between supporting the new legislation in its current form and earning the praise and attention its passage will likely bring, or opposing it and deeply angering one of his core constituencies.

From one perspective, Newsom's support doesn't matter, as the legislation will almost surely pass the Board of Supervisors with a veto-proof majority. Seven Supervisors are co-sponsoring Ammiano's funding plan, meaning the new legislation should gain the eight votes necessary to be enacted even if the Mayor wants to kill it.

But in terms of Newsom's political career, it will have dramatic effects. The Mayor must walk the fine line between keeping his donors happy and burnishing his position as a rising star in the Democratic Party.

The Budget and Finance Committee will revisit the issue next Tuesday, when the Mayor is expected to reveal his position on the newly merged proposals.