The California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) on Wednesday announced 14 reparations bills it plans to introduce as a first step toward implementing policy proposals outlined in a report compiled by the Reparations Task Force last summer. Announced.
In a press release, the caucus described the 2024 Reparations Priority Legislation Package as a “multi-year effort to implement the report’s legislative recommendations.”
With the introduction of the 14 measures, California will become the first state to implement a growing number of concrete legislative proposals for compensation legislation.
“While many associate only direct cash payments and reparations, the true meaning of the word remediation is much more. We need a comprehensive approach to dismantling this legacy of racism,” CLBC President Lori Wilson said in a press release.
“This year’s bills address a wide range of issues, from criminal justice reform to property rights, education, civil rights, and food justice. The caucus aims to right California’s past wrongs in the coming legislative session. , we aim to move forward later in Congress,” Wilson added.
The proposals include an amendment to the California Constitution that would “allow the state to fund programs designed to extend life expectancy, improve educational outcomes, or lift specific groups out of poverty.” It is.
Another proposed amendment would “prohibit involuntary servitude of incarcerated persons.”
One measure would address “property dispossession,” and the other would restore “property dispossessed during race-based use of prominent domains” to their original owners, or as appropriate. This allows the provision of other effective remedies such as restitution and compensation.
The first step in developing the package would be “a resolution recognizing the harm and subsequent legislation demanding a formal apology from the Governor and the Legislature for the state’s role in human rights violations and crimes against humanity against Africa.” It will be. slaves and their descendants. ”
The 14 measures are categorized into major themes: education, civil rights, criminal justice reform, health, and business.
Education proposals include creating grants to increase participation in STEM-related CTE programs at the high school and college levels. One of the measures proposed is “financial support for career education in red-light areas.”
In addition to addressing property, the civil rights proposals include, for example, expanding the Crown Act to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on certain hairstyles in competitive sports.
The criminal justice reform bill would allow the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to eliminate the practice of banning books without proper supervision, limit solitary confinement in CDCR jails, and reduce family, school, and home violence. Create grants to fund community-led solutions to reduce neighborhood level.
Health measures require advance notice to local stakeholders before grocery stores close in underserved or at-risk areas, as well as “medically necessary If this appears to be the case, medically supportive food and nutritional interventions should be provided.
The only business proposal would remove barriers for people with criminal records to obtain occupational licenses.
California’s Secretary of State praised the announcement, saying, “I am optimistic and encouraged by this effort and look forward to amazing and breakthrough results. Our people are waiting for us to lead.” And as California always does, we will be at the forefront of addressing this overdue justice called reparations.”
“We will right the wrongs committed against the Black community through laws and policies designed to limit and marginalize African Americans,” Congressman and Select Committee member Reggie Jones Sawyer said in a statement. I will try my best to do so.”
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