FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
May 22, 2024

CONTACT:
MayorPress@sandiego.gov

SAN DIEGO – Mayor Todd Gloria today issued the following statement on a plan by state legislators to advance a package of 22 bills to enhance accountability for retail theft, combat illicit drug sales and increase access to treatment:

“I applaud the Legislature, through the leadership of Senate President pro Tem Mike McGuire and Speaker Robert Rivas, for taking decisive action to combat the ongoing issues of retail theft and illicit drug use plaguing communities across California.

“These bill packages give communities like San Diego additional tools to take on organized retail theft and address the scourge of illicit fentanyl.

“As part of this effort, I was encouraged to see one of my sponsored bills, SB 1502 led by Senator Ashby, that will help our efforts to combat the growing threat of xylazine (commonly known as tranq).

“In the weeks ahead, it is my hope that the Senate and Assembly work quickly on a comprehensive package to send to the Governor’s desk for his signature.”

Legislative Package Overview

The seven Assembly bills to combat retail theft include:

• AB 2943 (Zbur, Speaker Rivas): creates a new felony to combat retail theft, gets at root causes of why people steal, makes it easier for law enforcement to arrest those who steal, and facilitates the aggregation of different thefts.
• AB 1794 (McCarty): allows thefts by the same perpetrator to be aggregated between different places and victims and allows retailers to report crime directly to their district attorneys.
• AB 3209 (Berman, Speaker Rivas): authorizes courts to impose a Retail Crime Restraining Order.
• AB 1779 (Irwin): restores cross-jurisdictional prosecutions.
• AB 1960 (Soria): provides enhanced penalties for individuals who take or destroy property while committing a felony.
• AB 1972 (Alanis): expands the CHP property crimes task forces to combat increased levels of cargo theft.
• AB 1802 (Jones-Sawyer): makes permanent the crime of organized retail theft and the operation of the CHP property crimes task force.

 The 15 Senate bills to enhance public safety include:

• SB 1319 (Wahab): Expedites approval of projects that expand the continuum of substance use disorder rehab facilities.
• SB 1320 (Wahab): Requires health plans to develop a mechanism to reimburse providers who provide primary care and behavioral health integrated services.
• SB 1385 (Roth): Supports navigators in hospital emergency departments and in the criminal justice system to ensure patients and justice-involved individuals are connected to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder and to ongoing treatment services. *Would include corresponding budget action to ensure navigators receive support training.
• SB 1442 (Ochoa Bogh & Skinner): Empowers CalRX to supply California with vital United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved testing and health assessment equipment, which will help increase access to affordable fentanyl testing strips for diagnostics purposes.
• SB 1468 (Ochoa Bogh & Roth): Educates and encourages providers to make use of the new federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) rule to allow practitioners to dispense a three-day supply of narcotic medication to start detoxification treatment or maintenance treatment for people who use opioids.
• SB 909 (Umberg): Addresses physician shortages in underserved areas by eliminating the cap on the Steven M. Thompson loan repayment program for physicians who agree to provide direct patient care in an underserved area for 36 months.
• SB 908 (Cortese): Requires the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to spread awareness of the increase in opioid overdoses and develop guidelines to protect and prevent fentanyl-related deaths of children zero to five.
• SB 910 (Umberg): Establishes statewide standards used by collaborative courts to improve programming, drug testing, and medication-assisted treatment for individuals moving through the criminal justice system.
• SB 950 (Skinner): Expands the number of re-entry hubs to provide more warm hand-offs and treatment options to individuals returning home from the criminal justice system. *Would include corresponding budget action to align state reimbursement models with federal rules to maximize funding potential.
• SB 1502 (Ashby): Prevents illicit use and trafficking of Xylazine (aka “tranq”), an animal tranquilizer with no approved human use that is increasingly being found in the illicit drug supply and has been linked to rising overdose deaths across the country.
• SB 1144 (Skinner): Disrupts the sale of stolen goods on online marketplaces by requiring that third-party sellers be certified, and bans sellers suspected of criminal activity from operating through online marketplace platforms.
• SB 1416 (Newman): Increases penalties on professional organized retail theft in particularly significant large-scale resale schemes.
• SB 905 (Wiener): Removes the locked door loophole for automotive property thefts.
• SB 982 (Wahab): Cements the work California has done on organized crime by making the law on organized retail theft permanent.
• SB 1242 (Min): Requires courts to impose higher penalties on criminals who create fires in order to engage in retail theft. The higher penalties do not impact Proposition 47.