Dem Lawmaker Seeks to Repeal ‘Prop 47’s Weakening of Our Theft Laws’ in California

A series of smash-and-grab robberies are leaving stores with boarded up windows in San Francisco on Nov. 22, 2021. Lear Zhou/The Epoch Times

A California state lawmaker has gone against the grain of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing by introducing legislation that would scrap part of a law that allows shoplifters to steal up to $950 in goods without being charged with a felony.

Assemblyman Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) introduced Assembly Bill 1603 (AB 1603) on Jan. 3. The bill would crack down on retail theft in the state by reducing the threshold for petty theft from $950 back to $400, which was the law in California before Proposition 47 (Prop. 47) was passed in 2014.