Newsom signs anti-shoplifting package, but referendum on tougher crime looms – Daily News

On Friday morning, Governor Gavin Newsom signed 10 anti-shoplifting bills into law. He hopes the move will provide new and effective tools to combat shoplifting and prevent voters from approving a tougher crime bill in November.

While Newsom and state lawmakers celebrated their legislative victories, a new poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that 56% of Californians support the tougher House Bill 36.

If passed, the initiative would reinstate many crimes such as shoplifting and drug abuse, effectively reversing most of the criminal justice reforms voters approved in 2014 under Bill 47. It would also increase the number of court-ordered drug rehabilitation programs for people accused of these crimes.

The package of 10 bills signed by Newsom is more targeted, addressing specific retail crime issues rather than increasing penalties.

Changes in the final package include tougher penalties for repeat shoplifting, the establishment of a permanent California Highway Patrol property crimes task force, and the creation of new crime categories for store arson and car break-ins with the intent to steal.

On Friday morning, Newsom sharply criticized the ballot measure, saying, “This initiative has nothing to do with shoplifting, this bill has everything to do with shoplifting.”

He argued: “Look at the independent legislative analyst who said it was going to cost billions and billions of dollars. There is not a single dollar tied to Prop 36.”

“This initiative is about going back to the 1980s, the war on drugs,” Newsom said. “It's about mass incarceration.”