California lawmakers pass bills targeting retail theft as November ballot measure looms

In the Spotlight is a Sacramento Bee series that digs into the high-profile local issues that readers care most about. Story idea? Email metro@sacbee.com .

California lawmakers on Monday were largely united in their support of a collection of bills meant to target the stealing and reselling of merchandise from stores throughout the state.

They will now go to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“This is a package of bills that I believe is balanced and that does work well for all parts of California,” said Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Salinas-area Democrat.

The passage of the 10 bills comes after Democrats unsuccessfully tried to derail a measure before it appeared on the November ballot that aims to stiffen penalties for theft and drug crimes. Among other things, Proposition 36 will allow people with past convictions for shoplifting, burglary and carjacking to be charged with a felony if they are accused of committing more theft-related crimes.

It would roll back changes approved by California voters a decade ago.

When it passed, Proposition 47 reduced some theft and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. It was billed as an effort to save the state hundreds of millions of dollars a year in corrections-related costs. But it has been the target of strong criticism.

“It was brought up for the rights reasons,” said Assemblyman Juan Alanis, a Modesto-area Republican, about Prop. 47. “It didn’t quite work out as well as it was thought out to be.” Alanis authored one of the bills approved Monday.

The fight over how best to combat retail theft comes as reports of shoplifting and people burglarizing businesses have risen sharply in the state, especially after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis of crime statistics by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Last year, the number of shoplifting incidents documented by police surged 39%, the highest level seen since 2000, the analysis found. Sacramento County is one of the areas that has seen a major increase in recent years.

“We need to make sure that we’re pursuing reforms that are effective at targeting retail crime while avoiding the roll back of criminal justice reforms that have been successful in keeping our communities safe and that reduce the cost — including the human cost — of imprisoning people for minor infractions,” said Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur, D-West Hollywood, who introduced one of the bills and chaired a legislative committee on retail theft.

The bills passed Monday cover a wide array of issues. One would require online marketplaces to have a policy prohibiting the sale of stolen items and alert law enforcement if they suspect someone is trying to sell pilfered goods to Californians. Another would extend the life of a regional property crimes task force meant to identify problem areas with high levels of thefts. And a third would allow for stiffer penalties against people accused of stealing from retail stores, who have been convicted of similar crimes in the past.

Democratic leaders in the Legislature called the road to Monday windy and difficult but said the package that ultimately passed is more effective at targeting retail theft than Prop. 36.

Earlier in the year, they pushed for retail theft bills to include clauses that would repeal them if Prop. 36 passed. That angered Republicans and fractured Democrats. And the effort ultimately fell through.

Newsom also got involved in the fray. He worked with lawmakers to try and put a measure on the November ballot to compete with Prop. 36. But he abruptly ended that plan ahead of a key deadline in early July to instead campaign for President Joe Biden, whose campaign for reelection was falling apart.

A spokeswoman for Newsom’s office did not comment on the passage of the bills when asked in an email.

“There’s many things that we need to combat this and that’s what the Legislature did when it passed this bill package,” said Rachel Michelin, president of the California Retailers Association. If the governor signs them, Michelin said the association will reevaluate its support of Prop. 36.

The approval of the bills did not dampen support others have for the ballot measure. That includes several Democrats.

One of them is Sen. Josh Newman, from the Fullerton-area, who authored one of the bills approved Monday. He called the package “a pretty good compliment, I think, to Prop. 36.”

Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, a strong supporter of the November measure, called the bills “a good first baby step.”

Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, called the actions by Democrats over recent months “pure politics.”

“They pushed the envelope for a long time and they had to do something,” he said, “and they did this.”