California Lawmakers Propose Letting Voters Decide on Harsher Fentanyl Punishment After Setbacks in Legislature

Assemblymembers, law enforcement officials, and local representatives met on June 6 in front of the Capitol in Sacramento to announce a proposed constitutional amendment that would put stricter fentanyl enforcement on the upcoming 2024 presidential election ballot.

“The fentanyl crisis is tearing our communities apart and devastating our family, friends and neighbors. No parent or family should have to suffer the loss of a child,” Assemblywoman Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach) told The Epoch Times by email after the announcement. “[This amendment] will bring Alexandra’s Law to the voters so they can make the final decision on this critical life and death policy solution.”

At issue is Alexandra’s Law—a measure that would give fentanyl dealers notice that any future actions resulting in death could be met with murder charges, similar to the Watson Admonishment given after DUI convictions. The bill was introduced in 2022 and again, this year.

Both attempts failed, with the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee using its authority to sideline this year’s bill.

Assembly Constitutional Amendment 12, introduced on June 5, would revise the authoritative document to include language related to fentanyl and the possession of controlled substances, if the Legislature votes to have the issue placed on the ballot and a majority of voters approve.

The amendment is authored by Dixon and Assemblymembers Juan Alanis (R-Modesto) and Joe Patterson (R-Rocklin) and includes bipartisan support with 16 additional Assembly and eight Senator co-authors.

“This is an opportunity to let the voters decide this: whether this common sense and … no brainer solution should become law,” Dixon said.

Patterson told the crowd that 20,000 lethal pills had recently been seized in Rocklin—a community in the northeastern Sacramento metropolitan area—noting that the drug is now found in schools and communities throughout the state.

“This is a solution that people want,” Patterson said during the press conference. “It’s time now to let the people of California be heard.”

Matt Capelouto, Alexandra’s father, spoke at the press conference, telling the audience that he has been sacrificing his career and time with his terminally ill wife to plead with lawmakers for nearly four years since his daughter was poisoned by fentanyl two days before Christmas in 2019.

“I am frustrated. This is nuts. It’s unfathomable for me to be standing here four years later and not a damn thing has been done,” he said. “What happened to ‘working together’? Both sides of the aisle want this, but a few committee members are holding 40 million Californians hostage.”

Chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) has been instrumental in delaying and denying fentanyl bills related to enforcement, repeatedly labeling such efforts as attempts to renew the failed 1970s “War on Drugs.”

Senate Public Safety Committee members Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), and Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) have used similar arguments to turn down bills this year including Senate Bill 44—the most recent version of Alexandra’s Law.

“Four times over the last years, the Senate and Assembly public safety committees turned their backs at holding these dealers accountable for killing our friends and families,” Capelouto said. “With no consequences, it’s no wonder that California leads the nation in fentanyl deaths. Thank you, California elected officials, you have failed us all.”

The newly proposed amendment has support from both parties, though no Democratic co-authors or representatives were present at the announcement.

Co-author Alanis spoke of the urgency needed to address the growing fentanyl crisis in the state, telling the audience that more needs to be done, and that the amendment is a bipartisan, bicameral effort to save children and communities.

“Solutions cannot wait for tomorrow. They cannot wait for the next Legislature. They cannot wait for the next decade,” he said. “We must do more, and we must do it now. Let’s let the voters weigh in directly. Apparently that’s the only way we’re going to be able to make this happen.”

Approximately 6,000 fentanyl overdose deaths were recorded in 2021 in the Golden State, according to the latest statistics available, with preliminary data showing an increase in 2022.

Law enforcement officials are unified in their call for more penalties for fentanyl distribution, with currently limited options for dealers caught with less than one kilogram of the drug.

Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire advised listeners that the proposed law would give prosecutors another tool to help keep communities safe.

“We have to emphasize accountability,” Gire said. “This is not just a public health problem. It’s a public safety problem … and this is a solution that should have been debated in the Legislature and now should rightfully be given to the voters.”

Resistance from public safety committees in the Assembly and Senate has revolved around discrepancies in how to handle the issue.

Some Democratic members are hesitant to increase penalties, with preventive measures and education as the preferred course of action.

“I have heard the concerns of the committee members, and these concerns are not grounded in reality,” Gire said at the press conference. “Their actions are calculated … and a multifaceted approach is required to resolve this crisis.”

Victims’ family members in attendance carried photos of their loved ones and decried the divisive political posturing of some lawmakers that they perceive as endangering the public.

“Republicans and Democrats need to stop playing politics and come together and let the voters decide,” Capelouto said. “You say you represent us; well, I challenge you to prove it and stand up for our ability to decide … the lives of Californians depend on it.”

Choking back tears in an emotional statement representing the frustration felt by thousands of family members across the state, Capelouto spoke about the lives that could be saved if the issue is taken to the voters.

“I can’t bring back my beautiful Alexandra, for whom this law is named, and it can’t take away the pain that all the families feel, but it can save lives,” he told the crowd. “It’s time to let Californians know they can save the lives of fellow Californians.”

From here, the legislative proposal will have to pass the Legislature with a two-thirds vote in both houses before being placed on the ballot for voter consideration.