McMahan

San Francisco voters adopted Proposition N, an initiative ordinance popularly known as “Care Not Cash,” to address the city’s persistent homeless problem. The measure required that San Francisco provide in-kind benefits such as permanent housing and meals to eligible indigents, replacing the majority of an individual’s existing cash grant with those guaranteed services. The measure also mandated a baseline appropriation to fund the in-kind services.

But after the voters approved the initiative, San Francisco announced that the funding provisions of the law were unenforceable, provoking appellants’ challenge by a petition for a writ of mandate.

Appellants in this action, two homeless men who receive relief and support from San Francisco, contend the entire Care Not Cash ordinance must be invalidated, because the funding provisions of the law are not enforceable. We will apply a severance clause contained in the ordinance to allow the valid portions of the law to remain in effect.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

San Francisco, like all counties in California, is obligated to provide relief and support to its indigent population. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 17000 et…