■Fix for Prop. 47 organizers have collected about 500,000 signatures.

■Ballot measure backers have until April 23 to submit 546,651 validated signatures.

■Goal is to collect 800,000 signatures to ensure qualification for the November ballot.

With about 500,000 signatures gathered, organizers of the bipartisan attempt to amend California’s Proposition 47 criminal sentencing reform law are pushing to place their measure on the November ballot.

The push to qualify the measure is being led locally by Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp, who has put together a “drive-through” signature-gathering event Friday in the KMJ studios parking lot at Palm and Shaw avenues. It is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We will have petitions there for people to sign and we will be out there all day — rain or shine,” Smittcamp said Tuesday night in an appearance on GV Wire’s “Unfiltered” podcast.

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Retired Sacramento County DA Anne Marie Schubert also appeared on “Unfiltered.” She said that the group’s goal is to reach 800,000 signatures to ensure collecting the required 546,651 validated signatures by the April 23 deadline.

Petitioner signers must be registered to vote in California for their signatures to be validated.

DA Smittcamp talks about the Fix Prop 47 Signature Gathering coming up March 1st#UNFILTERED #GVWire #News #Politics #LawEnforcement #Crime #California #CentralValley #prop47 pic.twitter.com/LxoBuaNJvQ

— GV Wire • News (@GVWire) February 29, 2024

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Backers: Initiative Would Cut Drug Addiction, Homelessness, Retail Theft

The initiative would give judges and prosecutors more control over criminal sentencing outcomes, which advocates say will result in reductions in drug addiction, homelessness, and retail theft.

Opponents of amending Prop. 47 say either that the law is working as intended or that any fixes should come from the Legislature.

In a nutshell, this is how the ballot measure amends Prop. 47:

— Allows felony charges for possessing certain drugs, including fentanyl, and for thefts under $950 — both now chargeable only as misdemeanors — with two prior drug or two prior theft convictions, as applicable. Defendants who plead guilty to felony drug possession and complete treatment can have charges dismissed.

— Increases sentences for other specified drug and theft crimes.

Both Smittcamp and Schubert stressed that if passed by voters, this amended version of Prop. 47 would reduce crime while providing convicted criminals addicted to drugs with the opportunity to enter recovery programs.

Retired Sacramento District Attorney, Anne Marie Schubert explaining how to fix Prop 47#UNFILTERED #GVWire #News #Politics #LawEnforcement #Crime #California #CentralValley #prop47 pic.twitter.com/RgJv3dKJGy

— GV Wire • News (@GVWire) February 29, 2024

Approved by a nearly 60% majority of voters in 2014, Prop. 47 reduced many non-violent crimes such as theft and drug possession to misdemeanors from felonies.

According to state data collected since Prop. 47’s passage, no one is ever arrested in more than 90% of reported thefts.

In addition, participation in drug courts and other diversion programs has dropped.