Public Safety Committee Passes Some Bills Designed to Punish Fentanyl Pushers; Rejects Others

Sacramento : Today, the Assembly Public Safety Committee passed multiple measures designed to address the fentanyl crisis while rejecting other measures. Assemblyman Mathis issued the following statement upon the conclusion of the hearing:

“I am disappointed in the Public Safety Committee’s decision not to approve the measures designed to tackle the growing fentanyl epidemic that is devastating California families. While the Public Safety Committee did advance moderate measures to establish a task force and to increase cooperation between local & state law enforcement, the more stringent measures that would address the root causes of this epidemic were unfortunately rejected. While we appreciate the members for introducing these bills, more needs to be done. The Public Safety Committee made the wrong decision by voting down bills that would increase penalties for those possessing large amounts of fentanyl and enhance sentences for dealers who kill or injure the person they sell to. I thank the bipartisan supporters of our bills and I look forward to working with members on both sides of the aisle to take on this crisis.”

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