$50 million is the specific dollar figure California budget documents direct toward Proposition 36-related court and pretrial services, per KCRA's review of those records, against a $375 million total that state leaders say is committed to implementing the 2024 voter initiative. Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper, speaking on KCRA 3's California Politics 360, said the gap is leaving a working law without the resources to sustain it. Proposition 36 passed in 2024 with nearly 70% of the vote in all 58 California counties.
Prop 36 funding and Cooper's overall grade
The ratio: $50 million in identified court and pretrial spending against a $375 million headline figure leaves $325 million without a documented Prop 36 destination in budget records reviewed by KCRA. Cooper said the law is already producing results, with retailers reporting declines in theft. "It is working. But without funding, it doesn't go anywhere," he told KCRA.
California lawmakers have roughly one month left to send legislation to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk. When asked to grade Newsom and the Legislature on crime, Cooper did not hesitate: "Not enough. Not enough." He noted that not one statewide official supported Proposition 36 before it passed.
Diversion, domestic violence, and parole
Cooper's criticism extended beyond the funding gap. He said proposals to make more theft offenses eligible for mental health diversion would "water it down," directly undermining what voters approved. Newsom recently signed legislation adding new guardrails to the diversion program, but Cooper argued the updated rules still allow offenders accused of what he called shocking crimes to avoid traditional prosecution, naming felony child abuse and crimes involving sexually violent predators.
On domestic violence, Cooper said California continues to classify many felony domestic violence offenses as non-violent. Lawmakers who oppose reclassification, he said, "have no argument. They just vote against it."
California recently recorded its lowest homicide rate in nearly six decades. Cooper said that number does not capture the ongoing harm to victims under policies that favor diversion and early release.
Cooper also pointed to a convicted attempted cop killer who shot at Stockton police officers, was released early under the compassionate release program, and was later arrested on new weapons charges. He said prosecutors and law enforcement had warned against expanding release standards before that release was approved.
Five young suspects have been charged in the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old Sacramento State student struck while riding in the back of an Uber. Cooper said California law, shaped by Proposition 57 and youth and elderly parole policies, gives greater weight to an offender's age than to the harm inflicted on victims.