Top California Democrats announce ballot measure targeting retail theft

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Top California Democrats announced Sunday they volition inquire voters to o.k. a program cracking down connected retail theft.

The plan, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is an effort to vie with different crime-focused measurement backed by a conjugation of concern groups that lawmakers said would effect successful much radical being enactment down bars. Newsom and lawmakers negotiated the program down closed doors implicit the play aft failing to person the conjugation to retreat its effort from the ballot.

Both proposals would see marque shoplifting a felony for repetition offenders and summation penalties for fentanyl dealers.

Under the retailers' plan, immoderate anterior theft-related convictions, adjacent if they happened years ago, would number toward a three-strike argumentation for accrued sentences. Lawmakers besides are proposing harsher punishment for repetition thieves, but the convictions would person to hap wrong 3 years of each other.

Prosecutors could aggregate the magnitude of each stolen goods wrong 3 years to complaint harsher offenses nether the Democrats' plan.

Lawmakers volition ballot to beforehand the program and present it to Newsom for his signature earlier the deadline connected Wednesday.

They anticipation to spot the measurement arsenic the archetypal point connected the ballot successful November. With 2 competing measures connected the ballot, the 1 with much votes would prevail.

Republican lawmakers blasted the Democrats' plan, with 1 calling it " a sham " to confuse voters.

The last-minute program is an effort by apical California Democrats to override different inaugural cracking down connected shoplifters and cause dealers, which is backed by a wide conjugation of businesses, territory attorneys and section officials. The conjugation and authorities leaders person clashed implicit however to ace down retail theft crimes.

The retailers' connection would rotation backmost parts of Proposition 47, the progressive ballot measurement approved by 60% of authorities voters successful 2014 that reduced definite theft and cause possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors to assistance code overcrowding successful jails. In caller years, Proposition 47 has go the absorption of critics who accidental California is excessively lax connected crime.

It would besides marque possession of fentanyl a felony and authorize judges to bid those with aggregate cause charges to get treatment. Proponents said the inaugural is indispensable to adjacent ineligible loopholes successful existing laws that has made it challenging to prosecute shoplifting and drug-related charges.

But lawmakers said the retailers' connection is excessively broad. They interest those changes would disproportionately incarcerate low-income radical and those with substance usage issues alternatively than people ringleaders who prosecute ample groups of radical to bargain goods for resale online.

State leaders, including Newsom, had repeatedly rejected calls to unravel Proposition 47 oregon to spell backmost to voters for transgression reforms.

Democratic lawmakers were fast-tracking a legislative bundle of 13 bills that would spell aft organized online reseller schemes and car thieves and supply backing for cause addiction counselors. State leaders planned to enact the proposals into laws arsenic soon arsenic this period and void the bundle if voters o.k. the concern groups' connection successful November. They abandoned that program Saturday night.

Democrats besides are acrophobic the retailers' tough-on-crime connection would thrust much Republicans and blimpish voters to the polls successful contested U.S. House races that could find power of Congress.

Crime is shaping up to beryllium the large governmental contented successful California's November's election. San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón look pugnacious reelection bids against challengers who person criticized their approaches to transgression and punishment.