California lawmakers on Monday gave final approval to a package of 10 bills aimed at combating retail theft, an effort that has divided Democrats as they face key issues in the upcoming November elections.
The legislation has been the focus of intense political debate all year, with Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders responding to pressure created by a tough-on-crime ballot measure that would toughen penalties for retail theft. Democratic leaders had hoped their bills could convince prosecutors to drop the measure, but negotiations fell apart, leaving California with two different visions for tackling crime. The more punitive approach by district attorneys seeking to charge people with felonies for repeat theft and fentanyl-related offenses will appear on the November ballot as Proposition 36, while the Legislature’s effort to curb crime by targeting organized theft rings and online marketplaces now heads to Newsom for his signature.
California lawmakers passed these bills to address crime:
Assembly Bill 2943 addresses the problem of serial burglars by charging them with a felony for a third theft offense, adds dollar amounts and expands the drug diversion program.
Assembly Bill 3209 allows a court to impose a restraining order for up to two years against a person who has stolen from, vandalized or assaulted an employee. It would also require the court to consider whether a person lives in a “food desert” and whether the store is the only place where essential goods can be purchased.
Assembly Bill 1779 allows prosecutors to charge multiple crimes that occurred in different counties and handle them in one court.
Assembly Bill 1802 makes permanent the California Highway Patrol's property crime task force.
Assembly Bill 1960 increases the penalties for a person who takes or destroys property valued at more than $50,000.
Assembly Bill 1972 expands the California Highway Patrol's property crime task force program to include cargo theft and railroad law enforcement.
Senate Bill 905 creates two new felonies or “wobbler” offenses for someone who forcibly enters a locked vehicle with the intent to commit a robbery.
Senate Bill 1385 supports hospital emergency departments to ensure that justice-involved patients are connected to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder and ongoing services.
Senate Bill 1242 specifies that if a person is convicted of recklessly setting fire to a retailer's property to commit organized theft, they will receive a longer sentence.
Senate Bill 1320 requires a health plan or insurer to reimburse providers for mental health and substance use disorder treatment services.
Senate Bill 1416 creates a sentencing enhancement for someone convicted of selling, exchanging, or returning for value an item acquired through theft, robbery, or theft.
Senate Bill 1144 requires online marketplaces to collect information from high-volume third-party sellers and gives district attorneys authority to bring civil actions to enforce violations.
Senate Bill 982 removes the statute of limitations on the crime of organized retail theft, allowing prosecution to continue indefinitely.
“Retail theft is not only bad for business, it also undermines safety,” Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles), who leads a special committee created this year to address the issue, said during Monday’s Assembly vote. “I recognize that there are a wide range of viewpoints in this body and in the community, but it’s been difficult to get to the right place. Many members of this body have raised passionate and genuine concerns, and I respect them.”
Although the bills passed with bipartisan support, many progressive lawmakers opposed them, particularly members of the Legislative Black Caucus who do not want to see more people sent to prison.
“These measures deepen mass incarceration, and deepening mass incarceration goes against the grain of what Californians wanted us to go in, which is decarceration,” Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) said Thursday as she voted against a bill that would penalize repeat offenders and tax the dollar value of stolen merchandise.
Assemblywoman Mia Bonta (D-Alameda) withdrew her support from seven bills.
“We know that increased criminalization too often falls on the backs of Black and Latino Californians,” he wrote in a statement to The Times.
Assemblymembers Tina McKinnor (D-Hawthorne) and Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), also members of the Black Caucus, were the only lawmakers not to cast votes on the Assembly floor on a bill that would criminalize burglaries that involve someone breaking into a car with the intent to steal and sell those items. Thirteen other Democrats did not cast votes, a sign they do not support the bill.
California State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas and Assemblyman Isaac Bryan did not support some of the Legislature's bills to address retail theft.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus and several other Democrats also did not support legislation to increase penalties for people who set a fire in the act of committing property theft; allow prosecutors to aggregate property thefts; and allow stores to file temporary restraining orders against certain repeat offenders.
It was not immediately clear how California would evaluate whether the legislation is effective in reducing theft.
“This isn’t over, this is year one, step one,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) told reporters Monday. “We know data is always the best way to drive policy, but we need to do a much better job at the state Capitol to look in the rearview mirror and make sure the laws are working.”
Newsom already signed two other bills in July that lawmakers crafted as part of a related effort to address drug addiction. The Senate is also pushing seven other fentanyl-related bills to curb the ongoing drug crisis plaguing the state.
At the heart of the debate over bills to curb fentanyl theft and abuse are divergent opinions on Proposition 47, a decade-old California law that downgraded some nonviolent drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, with the goal of reducing the prison population and giving nonviolent offenders a second chance.
Many district attorneys and law enforcement officials blame Proposition 47 for crime in California and are backing Proposition 36 on the November ballot to roll back some of the reforms. Proposition 36 would allow people repeatedly convicted of theft or fentanyl use to be charged with felonies and potentially sent to prison. The campaign on Monday announced endorsements from several legislative Democrats, including Sens. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) and Tom Umberg (D-Orange), as well as Assemblymembers James Ramos (D-Highland), Jasmeet Bains (D-Delano), Stephanie Nguyen (D-Elk Grove) and Blanca Pacheco (D-Downey).
Newsom and legislative leaders have sought to prevent Proposition 36 from reaching the ballot box and are likely to announce their official opposition to it. They do not want to change Proposition 47, arguing that it created beneficial reforms that have reduced California’s prison population and provided funding for drug treatment and other rehabilitation services. They say California can address crime without changing Proposition 47.
In June, the governor and Legislature introduced a more liberal, less punitive ballot proposal that was meant to compete with the prosecutors’ measure. But just before the Legislature left for its July recess, the governor, who was out of state campaigning for President Biden at the time, withdrew the measure, saying there wasn’t enough time to get it across the finish line.
The legislation headed to Newsom may bring some political benefits for opponents of Prop 36: Rivas said he thinks it could prompt some corporate donors to withdraw their support.
