Bill to decriminalize theft-related crimes dies in committee

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(The Center Square) – A bill that would have allowed people to walk away after being charged with theft-related crimes has died in committee, according to California's bill tracker.

Assembly Bill 2108, authored by Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins, D-San Diego, would have allowed those charged with such crimes to be entered into a theft diversion program. That kind of program requires someone to participate in treatment and other related services to prevent that person from committing retail thefts again, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. 

In a recent committee meeting, Sharp-Collins said amendments made to the bill make it clear that the policy would only apply to low-level crimes, not felonies.

“While we have diversion programs for drugs and mental health, we do not have the same for crimes of necessity led by poverty,” Sharp-Collins said at the committee meeting.

Sharp-Collins later told The Center Square that she was disheartened to see the bill die in committee. She argued the legislation doesn't undermine Prop. 36 and was supported by "the retail companies that lose when theft is rampant."

One organization to support the bill, San Quentin Skunkworks, said through its legislative advocate that the bill’s failure ultimately is bad for society.

"It is tragic for everyone that AB 2108 failed,” Maya Howard, a legislative advocate for San Quentin Skunkworks, told The Center Square via email on Monday. “Research, as noted by the Vera Institute, shows that diversion participants reoffend at vastly reduced rates compared to people prosecuted through traditional channels. Under such successful programs, everyone wins: taxpayers save money, families get breadwinners and needed support, and those who deserve a second chance earn it."

The bill would have run counter to a measure voted into law by California voters in 2024, Proposition 36. That measure elevated certain drug and theft-related crimes from misdemeanors to felonies, imposing more severe sentences.

Prop. 36 passed with 68.4% of the vote in November 2024. In the state’s 2025-26 budget, roughly $100 million was allocated to enforcing the measure, dropping to $50 million in the 2026-27 budget passed this summer. That is far short of the $400 million some lawmakers said was necessary to successfully implement the measure, according to previous reporting by The Center Square.

Prop. 36 succeeded a previous measure, Proposition 47, which downgraded certain theft-related crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.

The California District Attorneys Association, which opposed AB 2108, told The Center Square on Monday that the organization was pleased the bill ultimately failed to pass.

“It was clearly a direct assault on Proposition 36 and the will of nearly 70% of California voters who supported that initiative,” Greg Totten, the CEO of the California District Attorneys Association, told The Center Square. “This bill would have returned us to the failed policies of Proposition 47 and would have had a profoundly negative impact upon public safety, retail theft and the issues we were dealing with in the wake of Proposition 47.”

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, which supported the bill, declined to comment for this story. Californians for Safety and Justice, which supported the bill, also did not respond to The Center Square's request for comment on Monday. Several other organizations to take a stance on the bill also did not respond.