BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2372
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 20, 2010
Counsel: Milena Nelson
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 2372 (Ammiano) - As Amended: March 11, 2010
SUMMARY : Increases the threshold amount that constitutes grand
theft from $400 to $950.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Defines "grand theft" as any theft where the money, labor, or
real or personal property taken or when the property is taken
from the person of another is of a value exceeding $400.
[Penal Code Sections 487(a) and 487(c).]
2)Provides that grand theft is committed when the money, labor,
or real or personal property taken is of a value in excess of
$400, except as specified. [Penal Code Section 487(a).]
3)Provides that notwithstanding the value of the property taken,
grand theft is committed in any of the following cases [Penal
Code Section 487(b)]:
a) When domestic fowls, avocados, or other farm crops are
taken of a value exceeding $250;
b) When fish or other aquacultural products are taken from
a commercial or research operation that is producing that
product of a value exceeding $250;
c) Where money, labor or property is taken by a servant or
employee from his or her principal and aggregates $950 or
more in any consecutive 12-month period;
d) When the property is taken from the person of another;
or,
e) When the property taken is, among other things, an
automobile, horse or firearm. Provides that if the grand
theft involves the theft of a firearm, it is punishable by
AB 2372
Page 2
imprisonment in state prison for 16 months, 2 or 3 years.
(Penal Code Section 489.)
4)Provides that in all other cases, grand theft is punishable by
imprisonment in county jail for not more than one year or in
the state prison. (Penal Code Section 489.)
5)Provides that theft in other cases is petty theft. (Penal
Code Section 488.)
6)States that petty theft is punishable by a fine not exceeding
$1,000; by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six
months; or both. (Penal Code Section 490.)
7)Provides that any person who enters specified buildings,
including a vehicle, railroad car, locked or sealed cargo
container, whether or not mounted on a vehicle, with intent to
commit grand or petty theft or any felony is guilty of a
burglary. (Penal Code Section 459.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "Existing law
sets the minimum threshold for grand theft at $400. This
amount has not been indexed for inflation and has not been
adjusted since 1982. Last year, we adjusted the threshold for
39 property crimes but did not adjust grand theft. Grand
theft was established as a crime in 1867 for crimes involving
more than $50. That figure was first adjusted in 1923 and
increased to $200. According to the United States Department
of Labor's Consumer Price Index, the $200 threshold
established in 1923 if adjusted for inflation would be $2,534
in 2010. The $400 level established in 1982 would be around
$900 today. AB 2372 adjusts the threshold amount for the
first time in a generation, taking into consideration these
inflationary factors, and sets the amount at $950. Leaving
the grand theft threshold itself unchanged undermines the
impact of the other property crimes adjustment because the
crimes could alternatively be charged as grand theft. In
2009, the Department of Corrections estimated savings of $68.4
million dollars for the 2010/11 Budget if all property crimes
were adjusted for inflation. Leaving the grand theft
threshold unchanged undermines these savings. The Department
AB 2372
Page 3
estimates there will be 2,152 fewer defendants sent to state
prison for these property crimes by December 2011 if AB 2732
is enacted into law."
2)Threshold Value for Grand Theft Has Not Been Raised Since
1982 : The current threshold amount to constitute grand theft
(a taking or loss in excess of $400) was established in the
1982-83 Legislative Session. (Chapter 375, Statutes of 1982.)
The previous amount of $200 was established in 1923; up to
that time, the threshold amount was $50. As measured by the
change in the Consumer Price Index, goods or services with a
value of $400 today were worth only $184 in 1983. Expressed
another way, goods with a value of $400 in 1983 are worth $870
today. Thus, many crimes that qualify as grand theft today
would not have been grand theft in 1983. Theft of property
worth $870 in 2010 dollars (for example, a leather coat) could
not have been grand theft in 1983 when the current theft
thresholds took effect.
3)Related Legislation : SBx3 18 (Ducheny), Chapter 28, Statutes
of 2009, increased the threshold amount for thefts of
specified agricultural goods and specified aquacultural
products from $100 to $250. SBx3 18 also increased the
threshold amount of thefts of money, labor, or real or
personal property taken by an agent, servant, or employee from
$400 to $950.
4)Prior Legislation :
a) AB 2705 (Goldberg), of the 2003-04 Legislative Session,
would have increased the threshold for grand theft from
$400 to $1,000 and the threshold amount for specified
thefts from $100 to $250. AB 2705 was vetoed.
b) AB 2668 (DeVore), of the 2007-08 Legislative Session,
would have included theft or vandalism of fire equipment
within the definition of grant theft. AB 2668 failed
passage in this Committee.
c) AB 2827 (Runner), Chapter 105, Statutes of 2008, added
defrauding a public housing authority to the definition of
grand theft.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AB 2372
Page 4
Support
American Civil Liberties Union
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
California Public Defenders Association
Opposition
California Grocers Association
Analysis Prepared by : Milena Nelson / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744