How did a shoplifting bill get through California’s liberal Assembly with most Democrats opposed?

By Ryan Sabalow (CALMATTERS) – Assemblymember Ash Kalra did something exceptional last week. He was the only legislator to vote “no” on a controversial piece of legislation while nearly half of the 80 members in the state Assembly – and a majority of the Democrats – did not vote. The bill, which would make it easier to arrest shoplifters, is a recent example of a pattern CalMatters revealed in April with legislators dodging votes to avoid offending the bill’s supporters or to eliminate a record of their opposition on controversial topics. Assembly Bill 1990 passed the Assembly 44-1 last week with 35 lawmakers not casting a vote including 32 of the 62 Democrats and the Assembly speaker, Robert Rivas. Some of those not voting had excused absences, but the Legislature’s online record does not distinguish between an absence, an abstention or not voting. The bill would allow police to make an arrest for shoplifting without a warrant, even if they did not witness the crime. Los Angeles Assemblywoman Wendy Carillo, who authored the bill with five Democratic and two Republican coauthors, said it is “in response to the alarming escalation of organized retail theft,” which has become a hot-button political...