Mayor Gavin Newsom calls the small business community the "backbone of San Francisco," but that community now struggles under three city-imposed burdens: the minimum hourly wage of $9.14, the San Francisco Health Access Program, and most recently, an extended sick-leave law.

The health program, the creation of Mayor Newsom and Supervisor Tom Ammiano, is scheduled to begin this summer. The program is not insurance, but health care for the uninsured. It requires companies with 20 or more workers to spend another $1.11 to $1.68 per employee (part- and ful-time) per hour, relying on local businesses for as much as $40 million, almost a quarter of the total expected cost.

Despite Ammiano's audacious claim that he would "trounce" the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, the nonprofit organization suing the city, the association has pushed forward, claiming that the employer mandate in the health access plan is illegal.

The law mandates that companies provide one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, with a cap of 40 or 72 hours of leave, depending on the size of the business. Some restaurants will combine their sick days and vacation days together to satisfy the new requirement.

On city restaurant, Foreign Cinema, reportedly would suffer an additional $200,000 in annual expenses, or 66 percent of its profits due to the sick leave and health plan laws alone.

City supervisors, interest groups, and other labor advocates proudly include taxes for health care and sick leave in their ever-expanding definition of "basic human rights." The city, however, may regret this fight if it means driving valuable companies out of town, and killing jobs.

San Francisco should encourage small business. The city must strive to align the incentives of consumers and suppliers in health care without burdening either side with unfair mandates. The number of uninsured San Franciscans will drop only when the price of health insurance drops, not when the cost is shifted onto struggling businesses.

Gov. Schwarzenegger recently proposed that California tax laws allow Health Savings Accounts to be deducted from taxable income, so that individuals can save for their own medical expenses and have a bigger incentive to buy well-designed private health insurance in a competitive market. If California makes this a reality, San Franciscans will benefit greatly, and so will San Francisco businesses.