As leadership changes, Modesto lawmaker hopes bills to combat fentanyl win bipartisan support

Assemblyman Juan Alanis, R-Modesto, said he’s hopeful that stalled fentanyl bills can proceed in 2024 in a California Legislature with new committee assignments.

In the latest count, Stanislaus County has recorded 100 overdose or poisoning deaths due to fentanyl this year, prompting some authorities to urge state lawmakers to create tougher penalties for fentanyl dealers.

Robert Rivas, who took over as Assembly speaker in June, appointed Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, to chair the Public Safety Committee, where bills to increase criminal penalties for selling drugs laced with fentanyl were opposed by progressive Democrats last spring. McCarty has promised to strike a balance when it comes to divisive criminal justice issues.

According to Alanis’ staff, the Modesto lawmaker, who is vice chairman of Public Safety, worked to build bipartisan bridges this year and believes there’s a foundation for cooperation on fentanyl bills in the coming year.

“There can still be shifts on the committee when the Speaker announces new changes to committee assignments prior to returning to session,” Joshua Whitfield, Alanis’ chief of staff, said in an email Tuesday.

Alanis will work for passage of Democratic Sen. Tom Umberg’s Alexandria’s Law, which would require a court admonishment for drug offenders that they could be charged with a homicide for sale of a fentanyl-laced drug resulting in death. Alexandria’s Law and a similar bill by Republican Assemblyman Joe Patterson could be sent to voters as a constitutional amendment.

In addition, new ideas for combating the fentanyl crisis are expected to surface.

Alanis is still a joint author of a proposed bond measure with former Public Safety Committee chairman Reggie Jones-Sawyer of Los Angeles to fund prevention and education for combating the fentanyl crisis.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing legislation to make xylazine a controlled substance under California’s drug laws and increase penalties for illegal trafficking of the drug. Xylazine mixed with fentanyl creates a street drug called “tranq” that increases overdose deaths and causes severe skin wounds.

Friday in Modesto, Alanis will hold a fentanyl awareness townhall meeting, along with stakeholders including the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, Opioid Safety Coalition and county Office of Education. The meeting will focus on actions by local agencies to deal with the fentanyl threat. Narcan nasal spray for reversing overdoses and other resources will be given away.

The townhall begins at 7 p.m. Friday at the Martin Petersen Event Center, 720 12th St.