Legislative leaders introduce bill targeting organized retail theft

Feb 21, 2024

Cal Cities is reviewing the measure’s impact to cities

By Jolena Voorhis, legislative affairs lobbyist

Lawmakers have introduced at least 30 bills aimed at reducing retail theft this year. But a bill backed by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Asm. Rick Zbur has gained the lion’s share of attention. The proposal, AB 2943, is similar to a plan put forth by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this year.

Cal Cities and other members of a retail theft coalition are actively reviewing AB 2943 and will issue a position in early March.

Also known as the California Retail Theft Reduction Act, the proposed bill focuses on the following areas.

  • New penalties. Creates a new crime of retail theft with intent to sell, punishable for up to one year in county jail for individuals who have stolen over $950 worth of goods.
  • Aggregation. Prosecutors can add up the value of different thefts committed in the past three years, and any property possessed by another person acting in concert with the first person to increase penalties.  
  • Organized Retail Theft Statute. Extends the Organized Retail Theft Statute’s sunset date until 2031.
  • Multi-jurisdictions. Provides that theft over the $950 threshold includes acts committed in multiple jurisdictions.
  • Diversion and supervision. Allows the courts to divert people convicted of shoplifting and petty theft to collaborative courts or rehabilitation programs instead of probation.
  • Police arrest authority. Allows police to arrest suspected shoplifters even if they did not physically witness the crime.
  • Fencing and resellers. The author intends to require larger retailers to periodically report specific theft data and to strengthen laws to prevent stolen goods from being sold online.

Lawmakers discussed Proposition 47 at a press conference announcing the bill. The 2014 ballot initiative raised the threshold for misdemeanor shoplifting to $950. Asm. Kevin McCarty, who chairs the Assembly Public Safety Committee, said that he is working on legislation that would propose amendments to Prop. 47. 

The Assembly Public Safety Committee intends to hold a hearing on all retail theft proposals sometime in April. The Assembly Select Committee on Retail Theft, chaired by Asm. Zbur, plans to hold at least one more hearing this year. Cal Cities will be present at both hearings, underscoring its calls to the Legislature to take swift action to address the spike in retail theft.

Cal Cities and the retail theft coalition are also discussing several other legislative solutions that increase public safety without returning to the days of mass incarceration. The coalition — made up of local government, business leaders, and law enforcement organizations — is urging policymakers to center any discussions on retail theft around three core pillars: prevention, enforcement, and supervision.