The Assembly Public Safety Committee decided along party lines last week to keep a controversial law on criminal theft that recent polling shows many voters want off the books.
AB 1599, a bill to repeal Proposition 47, was voted on by the Public Safety Committee March 8, with Democrats Mia Bonta, Isaac Bryan, Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Miguel Santiago, and Mark Stone voting to retain it, and Republicans Tom Lackey and Kelly Seyarto voting to repeal it.
AB 1599 author Kevin Kiley, R- Rocklin, has filed a motion for reconsideration, and voters can still make their voices heard on Proposition 47, Kiley told the Northern California Record.
“Well, I think what happened was extremely unfortunate because right now, you have crime that has absolutely spun out of control with organized retail theft operations and smash-and-grabs,” Kiley said. “People are not feeling safe their communities and people also recognize that Prop 47 is really at the root of this problem.”
Results of a Berkeley IGS poll last month show voters favor scrapping it.
“That’s why voters in California favor getting rid of Prop 47 by a margin of two to one,” Kiley said. “And yet the Assembly Public Safety Committee decided to ignore the will of voters, to ignore our obligation to protect public safety, and made the truly radical decision to keep this law in place.”
The impact of the ongoing crime wave has made people wary of shopping or recreation in numerous parts of the state, and businesses struggling even more than they already were due to the pandemic.
“It is particularly tough on businesses that are losing merchandise, that have to deal with people walking in and just taking their items without any fear of consequence,” Kiley said. “A lot of times, they won't even report these things to the police, because there's really nothing the police can do about it, so we really need to give our law enforcement officers the tools they need to keep our communities safe and that starts with overturning Prop 47.”
Going forward, there are different things that can happen with the bill.
“I did ask for reconsideration, so the committee can always take it up again,” Kiley said. “I'm also looking at other options for getting it onto the floor of the Assembly for a vote of all members, but if that doesn't work, there's a ballot initiative as well called Stop Smash and Grabs that’s gathering signatures so voters can demand this directly.”
Despite the committee’s decision, Californians should know there are people fighting for them at the state Capitol, Kiley said.
“We’re fighting to get things moving in the right direction,” Kiley said. “And I think that the people in California have had enough – they're seeing what's happening all around us, they have expressed very clearly that they think we need to be supporting law enforcement and swinging the pendulum back toward public safety. And so I hope that the Legislature as a whole will respond to that and if not, the voters I think are going to make sure that there's change in this coming election.”