SAN DIEGO — This fall, California voters could have the final say on whether to toughen penalties on crimes like shoplifting here in the Golden State.
A new initiative to roll back Proposition 47 has now officially qualified for the November ballot after garnering nearly 1,000,000 signatures.
Prop 47, passed back in 2014, re-classified certain low-level drug and theft offenses to misdemeanors.
Almost 60% of California voters passed Prop 47, downgrading certain low-level drug and theft crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.
Ten years later, the state's voters once again could decide whether to roll back this measure and get tougher on crime.
Some legislators in Sacramento are putting forth their own set of bills to try to thwart this ballot measure.
By re-classifying crimes like shoplifting from a felony to a misdemeanor when the property is valued under $950, Prop 47 led to fewer people in California prisons.
However, critics of this move say that is has led to unintended consequences, including an explosion in retail theft over the past decade.
"It is a horrendous situation," said Pamela Smith of Mothers in Grief Support Group, which supports this reform measure. "There are so many businesses being shut down because of the repeated thefts. and there is simply no consequences for these people."
This new ballot measure to repeal Prop 47, known as the "Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act," would stiffen penalties for repeat retail thieves as well as those possessing hard drugs like fentanyl.
But a group of Democrats who are opposed to rolling back Prop 47 are now trying to fast-track a package of new legislative bills to address retail theft without harsher penalties for some offenders, keeping more people out of the prison system.
They plan to add a special clause to this legislation that would revoke the new laws if voters pass the ballot measure in November, setting up a showdown between Democrats and Republicans.
"There are no 'poison pills,'" said Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Democrat. "That's a very misleading talking point to be honest with you."
"This bipartisan effort needs to pass and we need to stop the games," said Republican Assembly Member James Gallagher of Yuba City. "Let the people vote. Let them vote on the language right now."
In the meantime, supporters of Prop 47 have said that it has delivered on its original promise to alleviate prison overcrowding and reduce recidivism rates.
"There is not a single study out there that shows that Proposition 47 has had a negative impact on crime rates," said Will Matthews, spokesman for Californians for Safety and Justice, which helped to write Prop 47.
He said Prop 47 has saved the state over $800 million in the past ten years by decreasing the prison population: money that's been re-invested in safer communities.
"If we go back to the days where we are just over-utilizing our state prisons, the savings realized by Prop 47 will go away," Matthews said. "The investment at the community level, in crime prevention, in healing services for victims, will go away."
Governor Gavin Newsom has made it clear that he believes it is not necessary to reform Prop 47, pushing instead for new legislation to crack down on retail theft.
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