Gavin Newsom downplays theft part of Prop. 47 initiative, calling it ‘drug policy reform’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week attacked a ballot measure changing parts of Proposition 47, saying it’s more of a “drug policy reform” than an attempt to address retail theft.

His comments at two different press events emphasized the measure’s expensive price tag — and may preview a coming opposition campaign against the district attorney-backed initiative, now numbered Proposition 36.

“I’m very concerned about this drug policy reform that takes possession and makes it a felony,” Newsom said at a Thursday press conference in Oakland. “And increases the size of our prison population by tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, over the next decade at a profound cost to the taxpayers. And I don’t think an improvement of public safety.”

Proposition 36 would increase penalties for some drug and theft crimes by changing portions of Proposition 47. The 2014 voter-approved initiative made some lower-level offenses misdemeanors and set a $950 felony threshold for shoplifting.

Newsom and lawmakers previously tried to get the California District Attorneys Association to remove Proposition 36 from the November ballot. After various legislative maneuvers failed, the governor spent the final days before a month-long legislative recess negotiating an alternative measure to compete with the district attorneys’ initiative. But Newsom dropped it the night before lawmakers were to vote on it.

Now, his only options are opposing Proposition 36 and promoting the Legislature’s theft and drug package, which lawmakers have been working on most of the year.

Newsom said Wednesday he plans to campaign against the district attorneys’ ballot measure.

“We’re working with the Legislature on an independent parallel track — doesn’t require going on the ballot — to support an effort there that’s targeted and specific,” Newsom said. “Not the scattered shots that folks on the now-Prop. 36 are trying to advance, which would send us back to the 1980s, as it relates to drug policy in this state.”

Among other provisions, Proposition 36 would allow prosecutors to charge certain cases of drug possession as “treatment-mandated felonies,” rather than misdemeanors, according to a Legislative Analyst’s Office report. That means offenders could have their charges dismissed if they complete addiction treatment, but they could also be sent to state prison if they aren’t successful.

It would also allow prosecutors to charge a theft of $950 or less as a felony for offenders who have two or more previous theft-related convictions, the LAO reports.

“We believe voters will agree that addressing the fentanyl and theft crisis is a top priority for our communities, which is why mayors from across the state including San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, and Santa Monica have endorsed Prop. 36,” said Greg Totten of the District Attorneys Association in a statement.

The LAO estimates Proposition 36 could increase state criminal justice system costs by hundreds of millions of dollars every year, mostly because it would grow the California prison population. It would also potentially hike local justice system costs by tens of millions of dollars annually by adding to court workloads and putting more people in county jail and under community supervision.

Newsom on Thursday used those estimates to slam the initiative, asking where proponents would get the money to pay for the new costs. He also questioned whether Proposition 36 truly deals with retail theft. The measure is called the “Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act.”

“Why is it that you lay claim that this is a retail theft framework, but you didn’t even touch the $950 threshold?” Newsom asked. That, he added, was “the No. 1 issue that they were complaining about. But it wasn’t even included in their initiative because it’s not about retail theft, it’s about drug policy reform, fundamentally.”