Let鈥檚 back up a moment: In March, the chairperson of the Assembly public safety committee, Los Angeles Democrat , announced that the committee would . At the time, he cited 鈥渄uplicative efforts鈥� and 鈥渢emporary solutions鈥� that provided no 鈥渞ational solutions at all.鈥�
That move put several bills to increase penalties or expand treatment鈥� authored by Republicans but also some Democrats 鈥� in limbo, and weeks ticked by with no clear timeline of when they would be reconsidered again. To put pressure on the committee, Republican legislators and district attorneys, joined by residents whose family members died from fentanyl overdoses, .
On Wednesday 鈥� the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom to discuss the fentanyl crisis with Attorney General Rob Bonta and Mayor London Breed 鈥� Republicans announced they would move to withdraw five fentanyl measures from the committee and try to force votes Thursday on the Assembly floor. Four of the five are authored by Democrats, including one that would enhance sentencing for fentanyl-related deaths from San Diego Assemblymember . (In March, he publicly with the move by Jones-Sawyer.)
Thursday, just before the floor session, legislators avoided the floor fight by agreeing to , plus a sixth one, at a special committee hearing on April 27. Republicans considered it a big win, and a few Democrats reacted in favor.
- Assembly Republican leader of Chico, in a statement: 鈥淚鈥檓 glad my Democratic colleagues finally recognized that a months-long delay in addressing the fentanyl crisis is not acceptable鈥�. We鈥檙e making progress, but we will not rest until this poison is out of our communities and the killing spree ends.鈥�
- Assemblymember , an Irvine Democrat, in a statement: 鈥淢y colleagues and I are working to treat this crisis with the urgency it requires. These bills deserve a hearing so that they may continue to proceed along the legislative process.鈥�
In response, Jones-Sawyer said that because there wasn鈥檛 initially 鈥渆nough time to properly discuss this crisis,鈥� he wanted to hold a hearing later.
- Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer, in an emailed statement to CalMatters: 鈥淚 wanted to鈥� ensure we could have more stakeholders in the room and give space to allow victims鈥� families sufficient time to be heard beyond the boundaries of the customary bill hearing. This is exactly what I will do鈥�. I look forward to our public hearing on fentanyl so that we as a legislative body can learn from experts and craft policies that protect Californians and properly punish suppliers.鈥�
Update: Friday, Newsom to send reinforcements from the California Highway Patrol and National Guard to help the city with its fentanyl crisis.
A reminder of why this is a big deal: In 2021, 5,722 people in California died from overdosing on fentanyl, including 224 , according to the .
is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.