Sacramento, CA – On Friday the LA Times published a poll that showed that a majority of voters support tougher penalties for theft and fentanyl related crimes, including a 56 percent support for Prop 36 which would impose tougher sentences on certain theft and fentanyl offenses.
Against that backdrop, a package of bills by some of the leading progressives in the state legislature was signed by Governor Newsom.
He called the package “the most significant bipartisan legislation to crack down on property crime in modern California history.”
The laws are purported to “establish tough new penalties” for repeat offenders, provide additional tools for felony prosecutions, and crack down on serial shoplifters, retail thieves, and auto burglars.
“Let’s be clear, this is the most significant legislation to address property crime in modern California history,” Governor Newsom said as he signed the legislation. “I thank the bipartisan group of lawmakers, our retail partners, and advocates for putting public safety over politics.”
The Governor added, “While some try to take us back to ineffective and costly policies of the past, these new laws present a better way forward — making our communities safer and providing meaningful tools to help law enforcement arrest criminals and hold them accountable.”
For their part, supporters of Prop 36 are far from satisfied with legislative package.
They argued that in their view, the leadership shelved the two strongest measures – Assembly Bill 1960 (Rivas) which would have been very helpful in dealing with smash-and-grab crimes and Assembly Bill 1794 (McCarty) that dealt with aggregation.
“State leaders have had years to address California’s crime and drug crises, yet little has been done to tackle the root causes,” the Yes on Prop 36 campaign said in a statement. “These newly passed legislative bills are half measures, failing to address the fundamental issues of habitual repeat theft, the fentanyl epidemic, and the ongoing homelessness crisis, which remains unaddressed due to the lack of strong incentives for drug treatment.”
But key legislative leaders saw it differently.
SB 905 was sponsored by Senator Scott Wiener, it eliminates the “locked door loophole,” a senseless barrier to holding auto burglars accountable, and the signing gives prosecutors additional tools to address widespread auto burglary.
“This new law is a big step forward for accountability on auto burglary,” said Senator Wiener. “It made no sense that the old law required the District Attorney to prove that the owner locked the car door in order to convict someone for auto burglary – it shouldn’t matter if the door was locked. Soon San Franciscans and all Californians will benefit from this additional tool to tackle the widespread problem of auto break-ins.”
Auto break-ins have long been a vexing problem in San Francisco, and despite recent progress by city officials reducing the number of break-ins, they remain a problem.
One barrier to consistent, effective enforcement is the locked door loophole. Under current law, convicting a suspect of auto burglary requires that prosecutors prove not just that the person entered the vehicle without permission or did so forcibly but also that the vehicle was locked
SB 905 eliminates “this needless requirement; instead, forcible entry will be sufficient to prove the crime of auto burglary, which may be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony.”
The Governor also signed SB 982, from Senator Aisha Wahab.
“SB 982 is critical public safety policy providing law enforcement agencies the tools they need to keep our communities safe, and ensuring those involved in organized retail theft are appropriately prosecuted,” said Senator Aisha Wahab.
SB 982, Organized Theft Sunset Removal, passed the legislature and ensures organized theft becomes a permanent crime.
“Small businesses are relying on us to ensure prosecutors and law enforcement have effective tools to combat organized theft,” said Senator Wahab. “This law increases the safety of all Californians.”
Perhaps the most cited SB 1144 by Senator Nancy Skinner, which strengthens California law regulating online marketplaces by ensuring that platforms are not facilitating the sale of stolen goods and incentivizing organized retail theft.
“Online marketplaces are a valuable tool to buy and sell legitimate goods and services, but increasingly they’re also used by organized retail theft rings to unload stolen goods,” said Sen. Skinner, D-Berkeley. “With the overwhelming passage of SB 1144, the California Legislature has sent a clear message: Online marketplaces can no longer be used as giant fencing operations by organized retail theft rings. Those days are over.”
The Vanguard talked with Senator Skinner back in June and she pointed out despite all the media coverage and focus – crime is actually going down.
“The crime rate is definitely going down. Retail theft is down. Any number of indicators show that it’s down,” Senator Skinner stated, adding that it’s also down in Oakland, a key city in her district.
She explained, “I think what we see is… you have some people, some proponents of an initiative that they purport is going to address retail theft when it has really little in it to do with retail theft.”
She said, “When we talk to our large retailers, they’re very clear. What they want is a bill like mine. They’re all in favor of it because it gets at the way that stolen goods are being sold now.”
The key she said is that the organized entities are selling it online and they appear to the person buying it to be a legitimate business.
Contrary to claims by prosecutors and law enforcement, prosecutors are not having any trouble charging folks with felonies.
“They’re not having trouble,” Senator Skinner said. “But they also have, what they do need though is the ability to track them down and the ability to, because we know that they are, much of this material is being sold. It’s not being sold out of the trunk of a car or standing on a corner. It’s being sold online.”
Senator Skinner believes the argument by supporters of Prop 36 is disingenuous.
She charged, “The proponents of this initiative are being disingenuous. They are weaving a story that is not true. And they are purporting to have an initiative that’s going to, for example, stop retail theft when the retailers themselves say, no, what we need is bills like Skinner’s.”
Not only is retail theft now declining, Skinner added, “drug use now, fortunately, we are also seeing fentanyl use go down.”
She added, “That’s the other good news statistically, which is really a relief.” She noted, “Having laws criminalizing the user has not reversed the use of that drug.”
Skinner said, “What I’m confident about is that the package of bills that we’ve put forward really address crime and the drug problems. And there are, they’re based on real solutions that have been proven to work. They were crafted with good interaction with stakeholders, with law enforcement, with community-based agencies, with experts, because we want our community safe. And so they were crafted from that perspective.”
Meanwhile, the leadership in the legislature was supportive of the package overall.
“A promise made is a promise kept — we’re taking bipartisan action to make our communities safer and stronger,” said Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire. “These ten critical bills will crack down on retail theft, blunt local crime, and help our downtowns thrive for decades to come. Thanks to the partnership of Governor Newsom, Speaker Rivas, and the tireless work of our Senate and Assembly colleagues, California communities are getting the laws they need and rightfully deserve.”
“California’s hard-working business owners asked for our help, and today we are delivering thoughtful, balanced new laws that will protect their livelihoods, workers and customers,” said Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas. “To those who brazenly harass and shoplift from our stores: Accountability is here. I’m deeply proud of my colleagues for taking on this crucial public-safety issue, and I thank Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, the Governor, Pro Tem and Attorney General for their dedication and leadership. In California, we keep each other safe and get the job done.”
“I am grateful to the Governor for signing this landmark legislative package and to Speaker Rivas for making retail theft a priority,” said Select Committee on Retail Theft chair, Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur. “This legislation directly benefits Californians by addressing the urgent issue of retail crime, which impacts shoppers, business owners, and workers across our state. Many constituents have expressed concerns about local retailers closing, job losses, and safety. By working together with various stakeholders, we crafted a balanced solution that disrupts retail crime rings while maintaining crucial criminal justice reforms. This law is a significant step toward making our communities safer and stronger.”
WHAT THESE NEW LAWS DO:
CRACKS DOWN ON THE THEFT AND SALE OF STOLEN ITEMS: Creates stricter penalties for individuals involved in retail and property theft, mandates sentencing enhancements for large-scale operations, and creates new crimes — imposing enhanced felony charges and extended prison sentences.
INCREASES ENFORCEMENT AND PROSECUTIONS: Bolsters existing laws to ensure police can arrest retail theft suspects with probable cause — even if they didn’t witness a crime in progress.
COMBINES VALUES TO MEET FELONY THRESHOLDS: Permits the aggregation of stolen goods, enabling prosecutors to combine the value of multiple stolen items — even across different victims and counties — to help meet the threshold for felony grand theft.
TARGETS SMASH-AND GRABS: Creates new penalties for criminals who damage businesses and property in the course of theft.
FIGHTS CAR BREAK-INS AND THEFT: Adds new and increased penalties for possession of items stolen from a vehicle with intent to resell, and allows prosecution of automotive property thefts, regardless of whether the vehicle was locked.
ELIMINATES RETAIL THEFT SUNSET PROVISIONS: Maintains important organized retail crime statutes and task forces to protect communities. The organized retail law, which has been effectively used by CHP and others in the Organized Retail Crime Task Force, would have expired on January 1, 2026.
Friday’s signing includes the enactment of following measures that will help strengthen California’s existing laws:
- AB 1779 by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin – Theft: jurisdiction
- AB 1802 by Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer —Crimes: organized theft
- AB 1972 by Assemblymember Juan Alanis — Regional property crimes task force
- AB 2943 by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas — Crimes: shoplifting
- AB 3209 by Assemblymember Marc Berman — Crimes: theft: retail theft restraining orders
- SB 905 by Senator Scott Wiener – Crimes: theft from a vehicle
- SB 982 by Senator Aisha Wahab — Crimes: organized theft
- SB 1144 by Senator Nancy Skinner — Marketplaces: online marketplaces
- SB 1242 by Senator Dave Min — Crimes: fires
- SB 1416 by Senator Josh Newman — Sentencing enhancements: sale, exchange, or return of stolen property
- While not included in today’s announcement, Governor Newsom is also expected to soon sign AB 1960 by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.
