By passing Proposition 36 with 68% of the vote last year, Californians took a big, bold step last November in addressing the retail theft epidemic that their elected officials in Sacramento had a hard time acknowledging was even happening.

But is it working as promised? What can be done to make it work even better? Still smarting over being told what to do by the people, legislators only came up with $100 million in one-time funding for a project estimated to cost $250 million to $400 million annually.

“I talk to business owners every single day and what they want to see is their voice and their vote being fully executed, supported, and funded by the politicians in Sacramento,” said small business owner Beth Booth, NFIB California’s vice chair of its leadership council. “We see you. We know you are not funding this. You are not supporting what the voters have asked for, and we are not going to stand for it.”

Booth was joined by NFIB California State Director John Kabateck at the September 22 event held in San Marcos (San Diego County), which brought business representatives together with prosecutors, law enforcement, and community stakeholders.

In spite of its legislatively hampered slow start, Proposition 36 is producing some anti-crime dividends, according to San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan and Matt Ross of Californians Against Retail and Residential Theft (CARRT), which NFIB is a member of.

Remarks by Booth, Stephan, and Ross at the event received TV coverage in this report from NBC San Diego.

The San Marcos event was jointly sponsored by CARRT and the San Diego D.A.’s office. Future ones with CARRT are being planned throughout the state.

Related information

• September 22—NFIB California Main Street Minute, September 22-26
• April 23—Early Implementation of Prop 36 Varies Widely across Counties
• July 10, 2024—State’s Leading Small Business Group Endorses Proposition 36
• May 19, 2022—NFIB California Joins Second Retail Theft Coalition
• May 10, 2022—Rampant Retail Theft Hollowing Out San Francisco