CRA Secures Critical ORC Task Force Funding in State Budget

Sacramento, CA – June 29, 2021 – California Retailers Association President and CEO Rachel Michelin issued the following statement regarding Organized Retail Crime Task Force funding in the state budget.

“The California Retailers Association applauds the State Legislature for the recent passage of the state budget that includes $5.5 million dollars to fund California’s Organized Retail Crime Taskforce. We thank the Newsom Administration for their partnership in ensuring this important funding was included in the budget that prioritizes the protection of retail employees and customers from this growing criminal activity.

ORC is a growing problem, not only for businesses, but our communities as California leads the nation in reports of serial theft. ORC fosters a host of illegal activity, including the recruitment of vulnerable Californians such as youth, homeless and others into sophisticated theft crime networks that frequently use their proceeds to finance other illegal activity including drug smuggling and human trafficking.

The Task Force was set to expire on July 1 and did not have funding in place. Thanks to the collaboration of the California Retailer Association and its partners and support of Governor Newsom and state legislators, the valuable work of the Task Force will continue, which has resulted in breaking up sophisticated crime rings leading to the recovery of millions of dollars in stolen goods.

CRA continues to push legislation, AB 331 (Jones-Sawyer), to extend the statutory authorization for the Task Force until January 1, 2026, as well as the organized retail theft criminal statute which imposes felony penalties on individuals working in concert to commit ORC.

The work on this critical issue is far from complete as CRA works to continue funding well beyond 2026 and explore ways to build upon these gains.