“I’ll be honest, I have not had time to review the initiative,” said Senator Min to California State Assembly Vice Chair Kate Sanchez, who called his move “borderline corrupt.”
California State Senator and candidate for Congress Dave Min was caught admitting how he had not yet reviewed a ballot initiative that he introduced to the state legislature in February.
“I’ll be honest, I have not had time to review the initiative,” Senator Min was caught saying to California State Assembly Vice Chair Kate Sanchez during an Assembly hearing, adding that he has had “a lot on his plate these days.”
When Min introduced his bill, SB 1242, it appeared innocuous at first. It authorizes email as a legitimate notice to local municipalities when California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations is to establish a community correctional facility.
But, upon several rounds of revisions by the Appropriations Committee and resulting amendments, SB 1242 now “has nothing to do” with the original initiative, according to Vice Chair Sanchez. Now, the bill would increase penalties for reckless arson at a judge’s discretion for those committing organized retail theft.
This public fumble came only one week after Sen. Min admitted to Fox LA anchor Elex Michaelson that he hadn’t reviewed the ballot initiative to reform Proposition 47.
After Prop 47 passed in 2014 –– a ballot initiative meant to fund mental health and substance abuse services by reducing several felonies to misdemeanors and therefore saving money on the volume of incarcerations –– crime in the Golden State consequently rose. Big retailers and small business owners alike have been robbed of their wares by thieves taking advantage of California’s progressive criminal justice reforms.
Now that grand theft of property below $950 doesn’t result in arrest, even Governor Gavin Newsom has taken notice, admitting how “retail theft has changed” to “become deeply organized.”
In response to increasing crime rates, a bipartisan group of businesses, law enforcement, and elected officials called Californians for Safer Communities initiated a signature-gathering effort to support a proposed amendment to reform Prop 47. The initiative needed 546,651 valid signatures in order to become eligible for the November 2024 ballot, and 652,100 of the collected 910,441 signatures were deemed valid.
While San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other hubs of commerce across California hemorrhage businesses and drug addicts roam the streets during the worsening fentanyl epidemic, legislators like Sen. Min remain optimistic about Prop 47’s benefits. Yet, if Sen. Min’s SB 1242 were to pass, the bill would repeal itself if California voters chose to repeal Prop 47 in November.
Sen. Min defended his bill to Vice Chair Sanchez, calling it a “good bill” and explaining that he came to Sacramento “to solve problems,” like California’s worsening crime culture. However, the State Senator didn’t even know what his initiative had become—let alone that it would become useless if Californians opted to repeal Prop 47.
“It’s anti-democratic, it’s unfair, and to be frank, it’s borderline corrupt,” continued Vice Chair Sanchez, questioning Sen. Min about his unfamiliarity with the initiative he had introduced only a few months earlier.
If Sen. Min indeed has “a lot on his plate these days,” (perhaps a reference to his DUI scandal-laden Congressional campaign), perhaps these additional public embarrassments should serve as a warning to focus on the job his constituents elected him to perform—and that begins with understanding his own policy.
