Newsom signs bill package targeting organized retail theft, property crimes

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills Friday targeting organized retail theft and other property crimes that will include stricter punishments for repeat offenders.

Newsom signed the bills at a press conference inside a Home Depot in San Jose attended by state Attorney General Rob Bonta along with legislative and business leaders. The city and Santa Clara County have seen the biggest increase in property crimes among the state's largest counties, according to the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California .

The bills passed in the Democratic-controlled legislature on Monday even as Democrats are divided on how to confront the increase in property crimes. Many district attorneys and mayors across the state, including San Jose's mayor, support Proposition 36 on the November ballot , which would allow felony charges and increased sentences for repeat drug and theft crimes.

Newsom and other Democrats oppose Prop. 36, calling it an attempt at drug policy reform that would increase the prison population by tens of thousands, costing the state billions.

The governor noted in his remarks that lawmakers worked with retail industry leaders to move "the most significant legislation to address property crime in modern California history" past the political differences.

"The legislature worked diligently across the aisle in a bipartisan manner to advance these bills, and this, as the [Speaker] pro tem [Jim Wood] and the Speaker [Robert Rivas] said, is the beginning of a process, it's not the end of the process. We're still working on a number of other bills. We still have more work to do, more broadly, in this space. But this is a demonstrable advancement of that collective effort."

Friday's bill-signing ceremony was the latest move by the governor to combat property theft and other crimes, which includes forming an organized retail crime task force using California Highway Patrol officers , pledging millions of dollars for law enforcement agencies across the state, and enlisting state prosecutors to assist local prosecutors in Alameda County .

On Thursday, the Governor's Office said since the task force's inception in 2019, the CHP has arrested more than 2,900 suspects and recovered over $45 million worth of stolen assets. Also on Thursday, some merchants in Oakland told CBS News Bay Area the task force has not made a difference for them and more help was needed.

Among the bills signed by Newsom Friday, one would make permanent the property crimes task force. Other bills allow felony charges for a third theft offense, enable prosecutors to charge offenses across counties in a single court, create sentencing enhancements for fencing stolen property, and require online marketplaces to collect information from high-volume sellers.

One other bill would create two so-called "wobbler" offenses that can be charged as either felonies or misdemeanors: breaking into a car with intent to steal, and possessing property stolen from a car worth at least $950 with intent to sell.

Prop 36 would undo parts of Prop 47 which made most drug possession crimes a misdemeanor, raised the threshold for felony theft and forgery from $400 to $950, and directed more funding to drug treatment and victim services. It passed in 2017 in part to reduce the state's overcrowded prison population.

Supporters of Prop 36, which targets both the retail theft and fentanyl crises, say it would close loopholes in sentencing rules and bring more accountability. Newsom, who has made prison reform one of his signature issues , said Thursday the effect of Prop 36 would be "devastating" to minority communities who historically comprise a disproportionate percentage of the state's prison population.

"The impact on poor folks, the impact on Black and Brown communities, it's next level. And it doesn't address what they're saying. I've seen this movie over and over and over again. It's, it's exactly who we're not as a state," said Newsom in answer to a reporter question. "And the fact that there's some Democrats, you referenced one, couple of others who are supporting that, I don't know that they've given it a lot of thought. And I don't mean that as a cheap shot. I mean this sincerely. And I know they will give some pushback against that and maybe you'll run with that story as opposed to the substance of all this."