On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, Capitol Weekly hosted the California Ballot Forum: 2024 Election Preview. Through spirited discussion and reasoned debate, proponents for each side explored the strengths and weaknesses of the proposals in a conversation moderated by a journalist. Today's episode presents: Proposition 36 ALLOWS FELONY CHARGES AND INCREASES SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN DRUG AND THEFT CRIMES. INITIATIVE STATUTE. If passed, would allow felony charges for possessing certain drugs and for thefts under $950, if defendant has two prior drug or theft convictions. Fiscal Impact: State criminal justice costs likely ranging from several tens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Local criminal justice costs likely in the tens of millions of dollars annually. The "Yes" side was presented by Tino Rossi Tino Rossi is the vice president at Swing Strategies, where he has helped Fortune 100 companies, trade associations, and statewide ballot measure campaigns craft diverse coalitions and effective messages that move voters and impact public opinion on the state’s most complex issues. He has been an integral part of multiple successful statewide ballot measure fights, historic legislative negotiations, and prominent regional and statewide public affairs campaigns. Preceding his role at Swing Strategies, Tino mastered building diverse statewide coalitions, generating earned media, and executing effective grassroots campaigns at Meridian Pacific, Inc. The "No" side was presented by Cristine DeBerry Cristine Soto DeBerry is an attorney with twenty-five years of experience generating and implementing criminal justice policy. Drawing on her life experience as an immigrant, a crime survivor, a social justice advocate, and her work as both a public defender and a prosecutor, Cristine led the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office for a decade as Chief of Staff to DAs George Gascón and Chesa Boudin. As Chief of Staff, DeBerry spearheaded numerous large-scale policy reforms include developing the nation’s first automatic clearance of marijuana convictions, creating the nation’s first “race blind charging” tool, and implemented a fully restorative justice program for juveniles. After a decade in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, Cristine launched the Prosecutors Alliance. The Alliance is the nation’s first reform focused law enforcement association dedicated to activating prosecutors to transform their state prosecutorial systems. The moderator was Lindsey Holden of POLITICO Lindsey Holden is a politics reporter based in Sacramento. She helms California Playbook PM, POLITICO's must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State. Lindsey previously reported for the Sacramento Bee, where she spent two-plus years covering the state Legislature. At the Bee, Lindsey and a coworker won two 2024 Sacramento Press Club awards for “Stuck in Migration,” a series on California migrant farmworker housing. Before the Bee, Lindsey was a staff writer at the San Luis Obispo Tribune reporting on local politics, housing and the Covid-19 pandemic. A Southern California native raised in the Midwest, Lindsey attended DePaul University where she was a track and field student-athlete before pursuing a journalism master’s degree at Medill. Capitol Weekly is a 501c3 nonprofit created to inform, enlighten and educate Californians about public policy and state governance, and to provide a nonpartisan platform for engagement with public officials, advocates and political interests. Thanks to our underwriters for this event: BICKER, CASTILLO, FAIRBANKS & SPITZ PUBLIC AFFAIRS, THE TRIBAL ALLIANCE OF SOVEREIGN INDIAN NATIONS, WESTERN STATES PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION, PHYSICIAN ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA; LUCAS PUBLIC AFFAIRS, KP PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PERRY COMMUNICATIONS, CAPITOL ADVOCACY, THE WEIDEMAN GROUP, CALIFORNIA PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS, THE NO ON 33 CAMPAIGN, and THE YES ON 34 CAMPAIGN