By Lindsey Holden | Sacramento Bee
California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week attacked a ballot measure changing parts of Proposition 47, saying it’s more of a “drug policy reform” than an attempt to address retail theft.
His comments at two different press events emphasized the measure’s expensive price tag — and may preview a coming opposition campaign against the district attorney-backed initiative, now numbered Proposition 36.
“I’m very concerned about this drug policy reform that takes possession and makes it a felony,” Newsom said at a Thursday press conference in Oakland. “And increases the size of our prison population by tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, over the next decade at a profound cost to the taxpayers. And I don’t think an improvement of public safety.”
Proposition 36 would increase penalties for some drug and theft crimes by changing portions of Proposition 47. The 2014 voter-approved initiative made some lower-level offenses misdemeanors and set a $950 felony threshold for shoplifting.
Read more at: Sacramento Bee