Gavin Newsom drops Prop. 47 initiative days after announcing it. He’s leaving to back Joe Biden

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pulling the plug on a drug and theft ballot measure that he and top Democrats negotiated over the weekend to thwart a district attorney-led effort to change Proposition 47.

Newsom’s office confirmed the move late Tuesday, just after he announced plans to head to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday for a meeting with President Joe Biden and other Democratic governors.

The governor’s decision is stunning, given all the work leaders put in to craft the last-minute initiative, as well as the time spent selling it to Democratic lawmakers. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, were pushing legislators to support the bill in a vote that was to be taken late on Wednesday, the night before the Fourth of July holiday and the start of a month-long legislative recess.

Although legislative Democrats were not united in favor of the ballot measure, Newsom’s office insisted a lack of votes was not the reason he opted to cancel the measure.

“We are unable to meet the ballot deadline to secure necessary amendments to ensure this measure’s success and we will be withdrawing it from consideration,” Newsom said in a statement.

Lawmakers have been working for months on a retail theft package to oppose the California District Attorneys Association initiative, which became eligible for the November ballot in June after proponents gathered more than 900,000 signatures in support.

The district attorneys have long blamed what they see as a rise in retail theft and drug crimes on Proposition 47, a 2014 voter-approved measure that made some lower-level crimes misdemeanors and set a $950 felony threshold for shoplifting.

Newsom, Rivas and McGuire have been pushing a 14-bill package tightening penalties on retail theft offenses as their answer to the ballot measure. They’ve said their legislation will do a good job of dealing with these crimes, and it’s not necessary to change Proposition 47.

Now, Newsom said he plans to sign those measures and focus on additional legislative efforts. Lawmakers are expected to pass the bill package during Assembly and Senate floor sessions on Wednesday.

“I look forward to working with the Legislature and our public safety and retail partners to go even further in the days ahead, without returning to the damaging policies of decades past,” Newsom said.

DA ballot measure moves forward

The governor’s announcement comes after nearly a month of failed attempts from Democrats to negotiate the district attorneys’ initiative off the ballot.

In June, Rivas and McGuire changed some of the bills in the retail theft package to void the legislation if voters approve the district attorneys’ measure. This move divided Democrats, some of whom began receiving significant pressure from district attorneys and law enforcement groups to oppose the changes.

During the weekend, leaders stripped the changes from the bills and changed strategies.

“We are pleased the governor and Legislature have dropped their countermeasure and welcome them to join our campaign to responsibly amend Prop. 47 to deal with retail theft, the fentanyl crisis and homelessness,” said Greg Totten, District Attorneys Association CEO, in a statement.

The Sacramento Bee has reached out to Rivas and McGuire’s offices for comments on the governor’s announcement.

The reversal comes hours after Newsom’s campaign confirmed the governor would travel to Washington Wednesday to “stand with the President” at a White House meeting with Democratic governors.

After his shaky performance in last week’s debate, Biden is defending against increasing questions about his mental acuity and calls for him to step down – including from officials within his own party.

Newsom leaving for D.C.

Newsom, an official Biden campaign surrogate, has vehemently backed the President following the debate and attempted to redirect attention back toward former presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“All this other talk... it’s unhelpful and unnecessary,” Newsom wrote in a fundraising email the morning after the debate. “We aren’t going to turn our backs because of one performance. What kind of party does that?”

The governor has held the line on supporting Biden even as a new CNN poll showed three-quarters of voters want someone other than the president on the Democratic ticket. Newsom also planned to campaign for Democrats in New Hampshire on Monday.

The governor is leaving the state in the midst of a dangerous heat wave and a number of new wildfires in Northern California, including a blaze near Oroville that has prompted evacuation orders for more than 13,000 people.