A solid majority of likely California voters want harsher penalties for crimes involving retail theft and fentanyl, according to a new poll from the University of California, Berkeley Institute of Government, co-sponsored by The Times. I support Proposition 36, a November ballot measure that would impose

According to the survey, support for imposing harsher sentences on repeat offenders far exceeded voters’ desire to increase overall prosecutions or deter future crimes.

However, nearly half of those surveyed support first-time offender rehabilitation and treatment, among other options, as the best way to improve California’s criminal justice system. Voters are nearly evenly divided on whether Prop. 36 will reduce homelessness and drug addiction in California, one of the bill’s proponents’ selling points.

“Voters are enthusiastic about passing this initiative,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of California’s nonpartisan Berkeley IGS Poll. “I think the reason is interesting.”

The Berkeley poll also found support for California’s minimum wage hike initiative, which along with Proposition 36 is one of 10 statewide measures on the state’s November ballot, is declining. . Support for a ballot measure that would expand local governments’ authority to enact rent regulations also remained lukewarm.

The Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, known as Proposition 36, would impose harsher penalties for crimes involving repeat theft and the deadly drug fentanyl. The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Analysts estimated the effort could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars or more annually.

The measure is strongly supported by California prosecutors and a group of major retailers, including Walmart, and is aimed at overhauling some businesses. suggestion 47a measure approved by voters in 2014 that reduced penalties for certain drug and property crimes.

Before the passage of Prop. 47, some thefts could be considered a felony if the value of the stolen merchandise was $450 or more, but Prop. 47 raises that threshold to $950. Ta. Law enforcement agencies and others have criticized these changes, arguing that the reduced penalties have led to an increase in theft and other illegal activity across California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and California’s Democratic legislative leadership are pushing back against past tough-on-crime policies that have led to overcrowding in state prisons and a federal court ruling that the state violated constitutional rights. is opposed to Prop. 36 for fear of bringing back the Inmate. DiCamillo said the leaders’ warnings have so far not swayed voters.

“Voters clearly have something in mind that politicians are underestimating,” DiCamillo said.

Sixty percent of likely voters support Proposition 36, a slight increase from August’s Berkeley poll, while 21% oppose it and 19% are undecided.

A majority of Republicans and independents strongly supported the bill, as did several Democrats. Both men and women supported Proposition 36, as did all age groups, but voters under 30 expressed no support. Black voters likely oppose the bill, which opponents say disproportionately targets people of color, while a majority of white, Latino, and Asian American/Pacific Islander voters oppose the bill. The survey results showed support for the bill.

42% of likely voters do not believe that Prop. 36 will reduce the number of homeless and drug addicts, but 39% believe that Prop. 36 will have that effect.

Among voters likely to oppose Proposition 36, 86% said expanding rehabilitation and treatment for first-time offenders or exploring other alternatives is the best way for California to improve its criminal justice system. He said he thought it was more important. Of the bill’s supporters, 31% think so.

Newsom and Democrats tried to engineer Rival voting strategy This summer, it would address crimes like shoplifting with a less punitive approach than the prosecutor-driven Proposition 36. The measures are suddenly withdrawn from the governor in early July.

Newsom also publicly disputed the costs the measure would impose, calling it an “unfunded” mandate. The governor also criticized the drug treatment portion of the measure last month, calling it a “guarantee” for mental health care, but what if residential treatment facilities “don’t exist” in 22 of the state’s 58 counties? It remains unclear whether it will be enforced.

Greg Totten, co-chair of the “Yes on Prop. 36” campaign, said voters should “hold repeat thieves and fentanyl traffickers accountable and build neighborhoods that greatly encourage drug treatment for addicts.” “We want a balanced approach to improving safety in the region,” he said. This poll is “consistent with what we hear every day from Californians in every community across the state.”

Anthony York, a former spokesman for Mr. Newsom and now a spokesperson for the anti-Prop. 36 campaign, said the opposition had done an “effective job of misleading voters.”

“Surveys show voters support treatment,” York said, arguing that Proposition 36 would cut treatment funding and increase prison spending. “In the coming weeks, it is our job to tell them the truth behind Proposition 36.”

The survey also measured how voters felt about California’s minimum wage and other efforts to expand rent control.

The big change from early August polls reveals that support for Prop. 32, the original measure to raise the state’s minimum wage, has fallen below 50%. Two months ago, 52% of voters said they would vote to raise the minimum wage, but as of the end of September, only 46% were in favor.

Proposition 32 was most popular in urban areas, with 56% of likely voters in the San Francisco Bay Area and 50% in Los Angeles County saying they would vote yes.

“There’s resistance in other parts of the state when it comes to the minimum wage,” DiCamillo said, noting there’s also opposition in the Inland Empire, Central Valley and Central Coast.

Support for Proposition 33, which would expand local governments’ authority to enact rent regulations, has also been muted. In early August, 40% of voters said they would vote yes, but by late September that number had fallen to 37%.

The Berkeley poll was conducted online in English and Spanish from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1 among 3,045 Californians considered likely to vote in the November election.