By Angelica C. Gualpa
State Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares (R – Santa Clarita, Palmdale, Lancaster) this week succeeded in her push to get a comprehensive state audit and independent review of how hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on crime reduction over the past decade.
Proposition 47, approved by California voters in November 2014, reduced certain non-violent drug and property offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. Voters were promised the resulting state savings would be reinvested to reduce recidivism and expand mental health and substance use treatment.
Ten years later, the audit push comes in direct response to Proposition 36, approved by California voters in November 2024, which restored felony penalties for repeat drug and theft offenses and required treatment for drug offenders — a sweeping rebuke of Proposition 47’s consequences.
“Californians were told that Proposition 47 would reduce crime, cut recidivism, and get people the help they need,” said Valladares. “A decade later, crime and homelessness are visible on every street corner, our communities don’t feel safer, and no one in Sacramento can show the receipts. That ends now. Taxpayers deserve to know exactly where this money has gone and whether it’s done a single thing to make California safer.”
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved Valladares’ request, directing the California State Auditor to conduct a full examination of the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) and its administration of Proposition 47 grant funds.
Sixty-five percent of those savings — totaling hundreds of millions of dollars annually — flow to the BSCC to administer competitive grants for mental health services, substance use disorder treatment, diversion programs, housing assistance, and job training.
Under the current system, the organizations receiving those grants largely self-report their own results, with minimal independent oversight, leaving no reliable public data to confirm whether recidivism is actually declining, whether funds are reaching intended community-based providers, or whether taxpayers are getting what they were promised.
The California State Auditor will examine four areas: whether funded programs are actually reducing reoffending among participants; whether BSCC has adequate oversight to ensure compliance, including the mandated pass-through of at least 50 percent of funds to community-based providers; whether taxpayer dollars are being spent efficiently or absorbed by administrative overhead; and whether Proposition 47 savings should continue flowing through BSCC grants or be redirected toward the treatment and accountability framework established by Proposition 36.
Valladares said she will monitor the audit process and push for legislative reforms based on the State Auditor’s findings.
“Voters want safer streets and they want to see real results. They want safer communities, real treatment, and real accountability. This audit is about finding out whether Sacramento has delivered any of that – and if not, making sure we fix it,” Valladares said.
