California reparations activists hope that the ignored bill, which was shelved in September, will be reintroduced by lawmakers during the next special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom in January.
“This is one of the major demands and mandates from the community, and reparations leaders are being asked of members of Congress, who don't even have to be Black members, to reintroduce these two failed bills. must be a member of Congress,” said the California Reparations Task Force Chairman. Camilla Moore told FOX News Digital in an interview this week.
The bills, SB 1403 and SB 1331, would each establish the California American Civil Liberties Union to oversee the reparations program and create a dedicated fund to implement the reparations policy. Both bills were ignored because supporters argued they would not move forward or get Newsom's signature.
Protests erupt at California State Capitol after pair of reparations bills are shelved
Representative Isaac Bryan (right) speaks with members of the Coalition for a Fair and Equitable California about two reparations bills at the Capitol in Sacramento on August 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Tran Nguyen)
“I think Newsom’s reasons were probably political, like he didn’t expect reparations to become so serious so quickly,” Moore said. “And in this special election year, Kamala [Harris] He was running for president, but he doesn't seem very progressive in this political environment that we're in. ”
The two bills, authored by members of the California Legislative Black Caucus, seek to make amends for what advocates say is a legacy of racist policies that have created disparities for black people in everything from housing to education to health. This was extremely important for the Reparations Committee to carry out.
of Democratic-led California state legislature He passed a flurry of other bills aimed at redressing past racial injustices, but none of them provided direct payments to African Americans.
“I feel like the Congressional Caucus and even Newsom supported these bills. There's evidence of that. The Black Caucus wrote a letter in June saying they wanted to donate $6 million to the Friends of the Black Freedom Fund. But there are problems with this,” Moore said. . “But the letter also said they wanted to donate $6 million to reparations agencies, but at the last minute they decided to scrap the reparations agency fund bill in August.”
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gavin newsome (Anadolu/Contributor/File)
At that time, Sen. Stephen Bradford, whose current term is ending, said the bill didn't move forward because he feared it wouldn't pass Newsom's desk.
“We are at the finish line, and as a Black Caucus, we owe it to the descendants of chattel slavery, to Black Californians, to Black Americans, to move this bill forward,” Bradford said. I urged my colleagues to do so.
Once the bill was withdrawn, a group of demonstrators became enraged inside the Capitol in Sacramento because the bill was promised time.
State Republican Rep. Bill Esseri wrote in a post on “They refuse and hide.” “slavery” continued for many years.
Ezeiri met with supporters at the Capitol that day and said that while he did not support California taxpayers paying for the slave state's mistakes, he said “there should be a debate and a recorded vote on this issue.'' I believe it,'' he said. He then urged Congress to bring the bill to floor debate.
“I don't think there's a constitutional justification for cash payments based on race,” Esseri said in an interview on Fox News Digital this week. ”[President-elect] Trump created Opportunity Zones that resulted in direct investment in minority communities, so I think there are others. [ways] We can provide resources and investment to those who have been harmed by racist policies and slavery in the distant past. ”
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Members of the California Fairness Coalition will hold a protest in Sacramento, California on August 31, 2024, demanding that lawmakers vote on two reparations bills. (AP Photo/Tran Nguyen)
There are two new reparations bills on California's docket that were introduced during the Dec. 2 special session.
AB 7, filed by Democratic Reps. Isaac Bryan and Tina McKinner, would require California institutions of higher education, including California State University, the University of California, independent colleges and private institutions of higher education, to require applicants who are of American descent. It proposes allowing consideration of priority admissions. Slavery.
AB 57, introduced by Mr. McKinner, aims to allocate a portion of California's Home Buyer Assistance Program funds to descendants of slaves.
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Newsom has been silent on most of the reparations bills introduced this year, but in June he approved a nearly $300 billion budget that includes up to $12 million in reparations. The budget bill does not detail which proposals the fund will support, and the administration has expressed opposition to some measures.
But he did sign several reparations bills, including a “formal apology for California's historic role in perpetuating slavery and its enduring legacy.”
“California accepts responsibility for our role in promoting, facilitating, and permitting slavery and our enduring legacy of deep racial disparities,” Newsom said in a statement in September. Ta. “Building on decades of work, California is now taking an important step to recognize the grave injustices of the past and to make amends for the harm caused.”
Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
