LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
CPCA Legislative Update
By Chief Jennifer Tejada , Chair of the Law and Legislative Committee
When I took the position as Chair of the Cal Chiefs Law and Legislative Committee last fall , nothing Chief Swing could have said would have prepared me for the capricious road ahead . As the new Chair , I have the pleasure of working with our legislative team in Sacramento and together , we work to preserve our interests at the Capitol , on the ballot , and in the media . Now , over six months into my new position , I can easily describe the legislative process with one word : unpredictable .
Take for example , asset forfeiture , an action opposed by certain voices on both the left and the right of the political spectrum . The law enforcement community was quick to celebrate a hard-fought victory last fall when SB 443 suffered a crippling defeat on the Assembly Floor . By requiring a conviction prior to the forfeiting of assets , SB 443 would have placed California law enforcement agencies out of compliance with the Federal Government ’ s timeline for equitable sharing . Consequently , many of our state task forces would have been left unfunded . Our win , however , was short-lived . Just a few months later , in December , the U . S . DOJ announced that the 2016 Congressional budget bill stripped the U . S . DOJ of the necessary funds to continue the equitable sharing program , thus rendering the policy discussions being had in California a moot point .
For a few short months , we believed this would be the end of legislative discussions on equitable sharing at the State Capitol . However , as soon as we heard the U . S . DOJ was bringing the program back this spring , we knew that SB 443 and the policy discussions around the bill would be back before we could say “ asset forfeiture ”.
And just as predicted , the bill ’ s proponents began to hold press conferences and write op-eds chastising asset forfeiture and making promises to revitalize SB 443 . But Cal Chiefs did not fall into the same defensive position that we found ourselves in last year . Instead , we held multiple meetings with our colleagues in law enforcement to develop a united proactive approach that would protect the process under which we seize assets . Our approach increases transparency and provides a public defender for low-income residents contesting a seizure . Our proactivity allows us to be on the offense , and allows us to contribute to the media dialogue .
Asset forfeiture policy is a reminder that we never know what bill will be introduced , what policy changes we
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