Prop. 47, which reduced many shoplifting and drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, has been the subject of controversy since its passage in 2014 and now its fate may once again be put in the hands of voters.
On Thursday morning, the Californians for Safer Communities Coalition announced the submission of over 900,000 voter signatures for the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act. The coalition has raised around $8 million for the campaign, with major contributions coming from big box retailers such as Target and Home Depot.
The ballot measure would roll back key provisions of Prop. 47 and create harsher penalties for people who deal fentanyl and other hard drugs. It needs 546,651 valid signatures to be placed on the November ballot and a simple majority to pass.
“We cannot be afraid to challenge the status quo when it is clearly not working for our residents,” said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan at a Thursday morning press conference announcing the signature submission. “Prop. 47 was well-intended but what really matters is its impact — and unfortunately, it’s hurting far too many families and small businesses across the state.”
The goal of Prop. 47 was to reduce incarceration rates by reducing penalties for shoplifting and drug possession, and directing offenders into rehabilitative programs such as substance use treatment. But the coalition says the penal changes are to blame for a surge in shoplifting and smash-and-grab crimes.
Opponents of the measure believe that reversing Prop. 47 will reverse important progress made in decreasing incarceration rates.
“I think a lot of people just want to go back to locking up as many Black and brown people as possible,” said Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer in an interview. “I’m afraid that if you give law enforcement a carte blanche just to arrest anyone, that they will be lazy and just arrest people of color.”
Instead of a blanket increase in penalties for anyone who steals goods or possesses drugs, Jones-Sawyer advocates for a targeted approach focused on perpetrators of organized retail crime.
He points to the success of the CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force, which has conducted 185 investigations, leading to 474 arrests and recovering more than 160,000 stolen goods valued at $4.2 million since January. Jones-Sawyer crafted the legislation to initiate the task force and introduced a bill this session to make the program permanent.
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His bill is one of several dozen new pieces of legislation targeting retail theft pending in the legislature.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, and Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Los Angeles, have introduced a seven-bill package to address some of the weaknesses they see in Prop. 47 without scrapping the measure wholesale. The package would create a new felony crime for repeat shoplifting and would make it easier for business owners to file restraining orders against repeat offenders.
If the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act qualifies for the ballot, coalition leaders and state lawmakers could potentially negotiate a legislative compromise and withdraw the ballot measure.
The November ballot is already gearing up to be crowded with propositions. So far, four ballot measures have qualified for the general election via a two-thirds vote in the legislature, and six measures have received the needed number of valid signatures, and several more initiatives are pending signature verification.
A previous attempt to alter Prop. 47 was rejected by voters in 2020, but there’s no saying how voters will feel come November.