Are CA Democrats gaming the system on crime measure?

California Democrats control most of the levers of power — if they stick together. 

But Democratic leaders aren’t taking any chances with their ballot measure to tackle retail theft and fentanyl, which proposes less sweeping changes to Proposition 47 than a measure already on the November ballot backed by Republicans and many prosecutors. 

Democrats are pulling some fancy legislative footwork — or what some cynics would call gaming the system:

Their bill finally made it into print Sunday night — just in time so it can be voted on Wednesday night before the Legislature goes on its month-long summer holiday, but without a lot of time for careful vetting in committees.

The bill calls for a special election at the same time as the regular election in November so it only needs a simple majority to get on the ballot, not a two-thirds majority. And that could come into play: Some rank-and-file Democrats have already jumped ship, plus the lower voting threshold could let some legislators in swing districts vote “no” without stopping the measure. The bill passed its first test Monday in the Assembly, but more than two dozen Democrats didn’t vote initially, and it would require at least five more “yes” votes to pass Wednesday night.

If both anti-crime measures end up on the Nov. 5 ballot, and voters approve both, the bill says that whichever gets the most votes takes effect. Again, Democrats are trying to stack the odds in their favor: Another bill would direct the Secretary of State’s office to put theirs first on the ballot as Prop. 2. (Prop. 1 was Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mental health measure that narrowly passed in March.)

The campaign for the Prop. 47 repeal blasted Democratic leaders for seeking to “jam an inferior measure” onto the ballot. “For some unexplainable reason, the Governor and legislative leaders are willing to use every legislative maneuver, lever of power and political game to stop” their measure, the campaign said Monday. And more than 20 police unions sent lawmakers a letter Monday urging them to “reject this too little too late effort at election interference.”

Asked about the accusations of “gamesmanship,” Senate Democratic leader Mike McGuire of Santa Rosa blamed the California District Attorneys Association for refusing to negotiate — which it denies. 

“If this was all about policy, we would have been able to sit down and have a fruitful conversation,” McGuire told reporters, including CalMatters’ Yue Stella Yu, at a Monday Sacramento Press Club event.

McGuire, Gov. Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas of Salinas issued a joint statement on Monday arguing that their plan will improve public safety without returning to costly mass incarceration or the failed “war on drugs” that devastated communities of color. 

Significantly, they got the California Retailers Association on board: “Coupled with a robust retail theft legislative package, this proposed ballot measure is a smart solution that will protect our stores, employees, and customers,” Rachel Michelin, the association’s president, said in the statement.

Other ballot updates:

Recall election changes: It appears a constitutional amendment to overhaul California’s recall process won’t make it on the November ballot. As in the failed recall of Gov. Newsom in 2021, if voters remove the governor, the top vote-getter among the replacement candidates gets the office. The proposal would have the lieutenant governor take over. Sen. Josh Newman, a Fullerton Democrat and author of the amendment, said Monday he is disappointed it is unlikely to advance in time, but said he plans to try again “to prevent future instances like the most recent recall effort against the governor, which wound up costing the state a phenomenal amount of money to no real effect.”

Voter approval requirements: Now that the state Supreme Court removed a measure from the ballot that would have made it more difficult to raise state and local taxes, Democrats are punting on a constitutional amendment they concocted to undermine that measure. The proposal is to be moved to November 2026 under a bill expected to be approved this week.

Worker lawsuits: Gov. Newsom signed the bills Monday that led business groups to withdraw a ballot measure on repealing a California-only labor violations law. In the agreement with labor, the law is being changed to focus more on preventing violations than penalizing employers with big lawsuit settlements.

Following the Friday release of California hate crime statistics, Attorney General Rob Bonta published five more annual reports Monday, examining homicides, crime, use of force, juvenile justice and guns in 2023. 

Some key takeaways:

Homicides down: Compared to 2022, the homicide rate was down 15.8% and the number of arrests declined by 7.5%. Nearly half of homicides (48.7%) were committed by a friend or acquaintance of the victim.

Some crime ticked up, down: Rates for certain types of crime went up, including violent crime (3.3%), car theft (7.5%) and robbery (2.9%). Others decreased, such as the rate of property crime (1.8%) and burglary (7.8%).

More personnel: The total number of criminal justice personnel increased, including police officers (0.8%) and public defenders (6.9%).

Use of force: Last year, 1,406 officers were involved in incidents involving a discharge of a firearm or use of force that resulted in serious bodily injury or death.

In a statement, Bonta said crime rates remain “below their historical highs” but that there is “always more work to be done.”

As CalMatters criminal justice reporter Nigel Duara explained earlier, crime statistics are complex: Data can be collected inconsistently, framed to fit a certain agenda and are subject to misinterpretation. Learn more about interpreting crime data in his explainer.

Learning behind bars: A new report released Monday by the Legislative Analyst’s Office found that incarcerated students have it tough, explains CalMatters community college reporter Adam Echelman. 

The demand for classes outweighs the supply, forcing some students to wait up to three years to take their first class, the report found. Those who do enroll often struggle in school and take an average of about nine years to graduate. Most incarcerated students take classes by mail, where they rarely interact with a professor. The state has tried to promote in-person instruction but with mixed results. 

Fixing these challenges is possible, and even cheap, in some instances, the report said. For example, the state pegs community college funding to students’ performance in school, but there’s an exception for people in prison. It’s time legislators remove that exception, the report said.

Voters will likely decide in November whether the state can borrow $10 billion to repair and update K-12 schools and community colleges. But while most experts agree that California schools are in desperate need of modernization, small and low-income school districts are condemning the bond measure and how it’s been negotiated, writes CalMatters K-12 education reporter Carolyn Jones.

Currently, the state distributes funds for school facilities through 50-50 matching grants — meaning districts that are able to raise a lot of money locally can receive more money from the state. This typically results in higher-income areas receiving more funds.

While the measure sets aside 10% of the money for small districts, some superintendents argue that under the current bond measure, the state’s wealthiest districts would only receive slightly less money compared to the poorest districts.

Gudiel Crosthwaite, superintendent of Lynwood Unified in Los Angeles County: “Am I mad? Yeah, I am very mad. … This bond favors larger, higher-wealth districts at the expense of districts like ours.”

Unlike most states, California doesn’t have a dedicated funding source to repair schools. The state’s coffer to repair facilities hasn’t been replenished since 2016 and is nearly empty, after voters rejected a $15 billion school facilities bond in 2020. 

Read more about the bond pushback in Carolyn’s story.

The minimum wage increased Monday in several California cities, higher than the statewide benchmark of $16 an hour. Find out more in our explainer.