SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Lawmakers in California’s Democratic super-majority state Legislature are divided when it comes to enhancing prison time and penalties for fentanyl dealers, an issue highlighted Thursday in a special hearing on fentanyl-related bills.
Thursday’s special hearing in the Assembly Public Safety Committee was prompted by mounting pressure on the committee that is stacked with progressive Democrats. The committee’s chairman, Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, earlier this year announced he would not hear any more fentanyl-related proposals, which were written by moderate Democrats and Republicans, in order to have a hearing on the issue later this summer.
Jones-Sawyer faced backlash from a bipartisan group of lawmakers and parents, who noted an estimated 110 Californians die every week of fentanyl-related overdoses or poisonings. Both Republicans and Democrats last week held news conferences with people who lost loved ones to fentanyl poisoning, many having purchased pills not knowing fentanyl was in them. After Republicans threatened to force floor votes involving the entire Assembly on the Democratic-backed fentanyl bills last week, the committee agreed to move the hearing to Thursday.
“There is a difference between speedy action versus an effective process,” Jones-Sawyer said at the start of Thursday’s hearing. “It’s really time to unite the fight against fentanyl and drug abuse. It’s time to unite our efforts,” he said.
In a packed hearing room in front of people who lost loved ones to fentanyl, criminal justice and law enforcement groups from across the state, the committee on Thursday considered seven bills. It passed four of them that would create a new statewide fentanyl task force, increase fines for fentanyl dealers, prohibit dealers from carrying guns, and require the state’s threat assessment center to focus on fentanyl trafficking.
The committee rejected efforts to increase prison sentences for dealers, including one written by Republican Assemblyman Jim Patterson, that would have tailored the amount of time dealers spend in prison based on the amount of fentanyl in their possession to sell. It also rejected a bill that would have increased prison sentences for fentanyl dealers whose drugs significantly harm someone, written by Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, D-San Diego.
“I have to stick up for my city and these are very real problems happening on the ground,” Maienschein told the committee.
The committee also shelved a measure that would enhance prison time for those who sell fentanyl on social media, who usually target children and teens.
“We absolutely need more investment in treatment, education in rehab, and I also think when appropriate, we need to strengthen penalties,” said the bill’s author, Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine.
Chris Didier, who lost his teen son Zach to fentanyl poisoning in 2019, said after the hearing he was frustrated.
“It’s very frustrating to see this snail pace of progression that’s going on with trying to hold drug dealers and drug traffickers accountable,” he said.
The committee’s action wasn’t surprising to state lawmakers who wrote the bills at the center of Thursday’s hearing. The progressive committee is known for typically rejecting sentence enhancements, citing the failed war on drugs decades ago and fears of mass incarceration. The group Thursday pushed for more investments in treatment, education and prevention programs.
“I can’t support any measures today that feel like aimless patchwork solutions rooted in failed strategies of the past,” said Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles.
Thursday’s development comes just days after lawmakers in the State Senate killed a measure, written by a Democrat, that would have required judges to notify fentanyl dealers at the time of their conviction that if they deal again and kill someone, they could face homicide charges.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who left the state on Thursday to fundraise in Washington, D.C., for President Joe Biden’s reelection, would not weigh in on the debate. A spokesperson for his office said the governor will evaluate the bills on their merits if they reach his desk. Newsom last week launched an effort to crack down on fentanyl trafficking in San Francisco.
Jones-Sawyer repeatedly said Thursday that the Assembly would hold another hearing on fentanyl in May. It’s unclear when exactly that hearing will happen and what exactly will be discussed.
Source: kcra
