SLO District Attorney Dan Dow Warns Crime Bills Amended to Automatically Repeal if ‘Fix Prop. 47’ Passes

The ballot initiative to reform the 2014 Proposition 47 not only qualified with 900,000 signatures for the November ballot, Democrats in the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom are apparently compelled to oppose it, despite the important legal fixes to California’s outrageous crime problems.

Democrats have had 10-years since the passage of Proposition 47 to legally address the crimes Prop. 47 turned into misdemeanors from felonies, and ushered in a decade of serial retail theft, homelessness, drug trafficking, sex crimes, sex trafficking and other violent and terrible crimes. And every legislative attempt was summarily killed or never even given a hearing.

Rampant retail theft throughout California cities has caused thousands of small business and store closures. Escalating fentanyl overdoses are killing young Californians at a stunning rate. Voters want reforms immediately.

Democrat and Republican District Attorneys and Mayors, as well as editorial boards across the state are calling for voters to support the qualified initiative.

Democrat Legislative Leaders added “poison pill” amendment provisions in their “retail theft” package of bills, rushed through to mislead voters. According to the “poison pill” amendment, the legislative bills would be repealed if the ballot initiative to restore safety to cities and communities is approved by voters in November, rather than complimenting the ballot initiative.

But this hasn’t gone over well at all, and now appears to have been a total dud. So, left with only three days before the ballot initiative deadline, Democrats are hastily trying to get their own crime-related ballot initiative on the ballot to confuse and mislead voters – and trying to keep dangerous criminals on the street?

Democrats have killed many good Republican bills over the years in order to steal them for themselves for a win, when polling shows the issue to be popular among voters. Optics matter more to the left than good policy.

However, these poison pill amendments in all of the retail theft bills and will be on the Assembly floor Monday (the Globe will be there to report).

As such, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow issued an important message:

Please stop what you’re doing and help us right now! You can make a difference for our public safety in California today! Good morning.

It’s Monday June 24 2024. This is District Attorney Dan Dow with an important update about our public safety in California.

Today, the California State Assembly and California State Senate will be voting on close to 14 crime bills. They have amended these bills to make them automatically repealed and inoperable if our voter initiative to fix prop 47 passes in November.

Earlier Monday morning, the Globe reported “Yolo Couty District Attorney warns that California Democrats’ Latest act is to Sabotage the Initiative to Amend Prop. 47,” with DA Jeff Reisig (read here).

DA Dow continues:

If these bills are so good for our community safety, why would they want them repealed? Because they don’t want us the voters to fix prop 47 that has caused crime to surge. Sadly, our Governor and legislators are acting like children who, when they don’t get their way, they have to make it miserable for everyone.

Please call your state assembly rep and state senator today and urge them to vote no on all the crime bills on the assembly floor and Senate floor today are the crime bills with inoperability clauses that would repeal them automatically if the voters pass our initiative to fix prop 47.

Help us stop the out-of-control crime surge in California by fixing prop 47. Please join us the business community, victims rights organizations, Democrats and Republicans, and independent people like you who want California to be a safe place to live and enjoy without fear of crime.

The Assembly meets today at one o’clock and the Senate will meet at two o’clock. Call your Senator and Assembly rep today. We only need a few more legislators to join us to stop the political games that are happening with our public safety. Please share this message with all your friends in California. #FixProp47 #ReformProp47

The crime bills to oppose are all of the following: Ab 1779 Ab 1802 Ab 1960 Ab 2943 Ab 3209 Sb 1144 Sb 1416 Sb 905 Sb 982 Sb 1242 Sb 1320 Sb 1385

The political gamesmanship from Democrats is abhorrent. Thousands of people are dying from Fentanyl overdoses. Violence in cities is out of control. Retail theft and organized theft gangs are emboldened, with little to no prosecution from such crimes.

California Rep. Kevin Kiley (R) had this to say:

“I just got word the End Prop. 47 initiative doubled the previous record for signatures collected by volunteers. This is why Newsom and the Supermajority are so desperate to thwart the initiative. The people of California are reclaiming control of our state.”

These are not partisan crimes – they impact everyone. And voters have had enough.

Read and follow both San Luis Obispo DA Dan Dow and Yolo County DA Jeff Reisig to stay up to date on this important issue. And of course, the Globe will stay up to date on Fix Prop. 47.

Lastly, the qualified ballot initiative to Fix Prop. 47 seeks to:

• Address Organized and Serial Retail Theft by:
  • classifying repeated theft as a felony for individuals who steal less than $950 if they have two or more prior theft convictions;
  • allowing stolen property values to be combined so repeat offenders can be charged with a felony if the total exceeds $950;
  • Authorizing judges to impose an enhanced penalty when an offender steals, damages, or destroys property by participating in organized theft with two or more offenders or by causing losses of $50,000 or more.
• Confront the Fentanyl Crisis in Our Communities by defining fentanyl as a hard drug, hold individuals convicted of trafficking fentanyl accountable, and grant judges greater discretion in sentencing drug traffickers.
• Prioritize Mental Health and Drug Treatment by providing critical mental health, drug treatment services, and job training within our justice system for people who are homeless and suffering from mental illness or struggling with substance abuse.
  • enacts a new class of crime called a “treatment-mandated felony” where offenders with multiple hard drug possession convictions would be given the option of participating in drug and mental health treatment in lieu of incarceration;
  • Allowing offenders who successfully complete drug and mental health treatment to avoid jail time and have the charge fully expunged.