Gov. Gavin Newsom puts onus on California counties to fund Proposition 36, the state's anti-crime measure

Kate Wolffe, The Sacramento Bee on May 15, 2025

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In his revised budget plan for the upcoming year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom did not commit any funding for Proposition 36, the state’s new crime and drug treatment measure, despite calls from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to do so.

Instead, during a news conference Wednesday, Newsom put the onus on county and city leaders that called for the tough-on-crime initiative.

“There were a lot of supervisors in the counties that promoted it,” he said. “So, this is their opportunity to step up. Fund it!”

Newsom was an outspoken critic of Prop. 36 when it was on the ballot. He claimed it wouldn’t be effective, and would lead to more incarceration of low-level offenders. But a majority of Californians supported it, and it passed in November with 68% of the vote. Representatives at all levels of county justice systems — including sheriffs, public defenders, and judges — have told the state they need additional money to implement it, but Newsom has not been swayed.

State Sen. Roger Niello, a Republican, said it’s the job of the counties to execute, not fund, the measure. Niello serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee.

“He is being absolutely recalcitrant because the voters didn’t vote the way he wanted them to and the way he told them to,” Niello said. “He’s taking his football and going home.”

In March, Niello led his Republican colleagues in requesting $400 million to fully implement the law, which he said Wednesday would mostly go to substance abuse and mental health treatment for repeat drug offenders. Another estimate, from state Sen. Thomas Umberg, a Democrat, pegged the cost to fully implement the measure at $250 million, including $97 million for county administration and probation costs.

Graham Knaus, the Chief Executive Officer at the California State Association of Counties, said on Wednesday he is not sure how much implementing the measure will cost, since each county’s needs differ — but that regional entities can’t make progress without state investment and buy-in.

“Counties are simply asking for the state to abide by the will of the voters,” he said.

Newsom said the measure is funded through reallocations of Proposition 47 funding. Prop. 47 passed in 2014, and reclassified many theft and drug related crimes as misdemeanors, rather than felonies. All savings from reduced state prison expenses were required to go toward diversion programs, including mental health and substance abuse treatment. Prop. 36 undid many of the changes Prop. 47 made, and will likely lead to more incarceration, and less savings, for diversion programs.

However, in April, the state made available $127 million from the Prop. 47 coffers to fund mental health and substance abuse treatment, including programs under Prop. 36.

“The irony, for some, Prop. 47, of which they decry and criticize, is the source of those funds,” Newsom said during the news conference.

Lawmakers in the budget drafting process say more funding is likely needed.

“Prop. 47 savings will not be enough,” said Democratic state Sen. Jesse Arreguín, during a Thursday meeting of multiple Senate budget subcommittees.

The co-chair of that meeting, state Sen. Laura Richardson, a Democrat, emphasized the May revision is just a starting point, and the Legislature is committed to “fulfilling its responsibility” when it comes to Prop. 36.

However, both lawmakers stressed the enormity of the $12 billion deficit.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, also a Democrat who chairs the budget committee, said President Donald Trump’s economic decisions are forcing tough choices at the state level.

Prop. 36 is “going to be one of the things that we’re going to be continuing to focus on during the budget negotiations,” he said. “But we’re in a tough budget situation, and we don’t want to throw people off of health care.”

During the Thursday budget subcommittee hearing, GOP state Sen. Kelly Seyarto provided the Republican retort.

“The reason we got to this point is because we did not act when there was a problem,” he said. “The current May revise does not have money in the budget to implement this, and that’s not an excuse to not implement it.”