ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA CALLS ON SACRAMENTO TO FUND PROP 36 REFORMS
Villaraigosa Joined Sheriff Jim Cooper in Campaign Ads for Prop 36, Passed by Overwhelming Majority of California Voters
LOS ANGELES – As candidates for Governor head into CalChamber’s California Business Outlook Forum on Wednesday, Antonio Villaraigosa, former Speaker of the California Assembly and 41st Mayor of Los Angeles, is calling on Sacramento to fund Proposition 36 (2024), which was overwhelmingly passed by voters in November with 68.4% of the vote. Last year, Villaraigosa was the only candidate for Governor who campaigned in support of passing Prop 36.
“Sacramento delivers a lot of mandates to Californians, and voters spoke loud and clear in sending a mandate back to Sacramento with their overwhelming support Prop 36. Now these reforms need to be funded,” said Villaraigosa. “For too long, our small businesses and communities have been waging a losing battle against crime, theft, and the turnstile of justice. Leaders need to listen to voters as they support solutions to these problems.”
“I joined Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper, law enforcement, small businesses, social justice organizations, treatments providers, and the overwhelming majority of voters across the state in standing up for a safer California, and now I am calling for the funding of the Prop 36 reforms because they provide a balanced approach,” said Villaraigosa. “Funding Prop 36 will create effective tools to hold individuals accountable for repeat retail theft and fentanyl trafficking while incentivizing treatment for those suffering from addiction to hard drugs. We also need Sacramento to step up and take action to provide needed funding for crime prevention, after-school programs and mentoring to keep at-risk youth on the right track. The public has spoken, and now it is time for action.”
As Leader of the State Assembly, Antonio Villaraigosa worked with Democrats and Republicans to balance state budgets while investing in public safety and passing landmark juvenile justice reform legislation. As Mayor of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa reduced violent crime in Los Angeles by 48% with a number of reforms including: hiring nearly one thousand new police officers, increasing the LAPD force to over 10,000 for the first time in history; establishing innovative anti-gang strategies to crack down on gang violence and protect at-risk youth from gangs, programs that were a “shining example” and used as a model by federal authorities to reduce gang violence; taking illegal guns off the streets; leading efforts to pass criminal justice reforms, including bringing more accountability to the LAPD; expanding after school programs; and securing funding to create the Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART).
To learn more about Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2026 visit antonio2026.com.
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