(The Center Square) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a 10-bill anti-crime package as Democrats in the state race to address perceptions of rising crime in California as a new anti-crime ballot measure opposed by the governor seems increasingly likely to pass.
“I thank the bipartisan group of lawmakers, our retail partners, and advocates for putting public safety over politics,” said Newsom in a statement. “While some try to take us back to ineffective and costly policies of the past, these new laws present a better way forward — making our communities safer and providing meaningful tools to help law enforcement arrest criminals and hold them accountable.”
Newsom’s reference to Proposition 36, an anti-crime ballot measure that a new Los Angeles Times poll says 56% of voters support and only 23% oppose. Prop. 36 would change Prop. 47, a 2014 measure that turned potential felonies into misdemeanors for many crimes, by allowing for felony charges for serial thieves. It would also create a “treatment-mandated felony” crime class that allows individuals to get treatment for mental health or behavioral issues and receive shelter instead of going to prison.
The anti-crime bill package signed by Newsom, in addition to another bill Newsom says he is going to sign, would also make major changes to criminal prosecution in California.
AB 2943 allows police to arrest people on suspicion of theft, instead of having had to see someone steal something, and allows prosecutors to combine theft incidents by one person to hit the $950 felony theft threshold. SB 905 ended a loophole that previously required prosecutors to prove that an individual broke into a car that was definitely locked to be found guilty of auto burglary. The pending bill Newsom referenced, AB 1960, would add scaled sentencing enhancements for damage or losses caused while attempting or conducting a felony; theft or damage of $50,000 to $200,000 would add one year, $200,000 to $1 million would add two years, $1-3 million would add four years, with each additional $3 million of damage causing another four years to be added to sentencing.
Prop. 36 has divided Democrats, with some prominent Democrats, including San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan banding together to form a “Yes on 36” committee, and focusing on messaging tying crime and homelessness to lack of required drug and mental health treatment.
“You can’t end the era of encampments without launching the era of mass treatment. Proposition 36 gives us that opportunity, said Mahan on X.
“Prop. 47 needs to be reformed because we went from mass incarceration to a massive failure of accountability,” continued Mahan on X. “And what we really need is mass treatment.”