California lawmakers advance bill creating genealogy office to determine reparations eligibility

California lawmakers have advanced a bill that would create a genealogy office to determine who is eligible for reparations handouts.

The bill, SB 1403, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last week in a 8-1 vote, The California Globe reported. If it becomes law, it would establish the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency, which would carry out recommendations from the state's reparations task force.

It would also create a Genealogy Office and an Office of Legal Affairs to "determine how an individual’s status as a descendant would be confirmed" and "require proof of an individual’s descendant status to be a qualifying criteria for benefits authorized by the state for descendants," according to the bill.

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Long-time Los Angeles resident, Walter Foster, 80, holds up a sign as the California Reparations Task Force meets to hear public input on reparations at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2022. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The bill defines a descendant as "descendants of an African American chattel enslaved person in the United States" or "descendants of a free Black person living in the United States prior to the end of the 19th century."

SB1403's author, Sate Sen. Steven Bradford, said the bill was about recognizing California's past "grave injustices" towards African Americans while creating a more "equitable future."

"This agency will be the necessary foundation for the implementation and success of reparations," he said ahead of the committee vote. 

The "commonsense measure" was "long overdue for California and the nation," he added.

The legislation is part of the reparations package state lawmakers introduced in February after years of deliberation on how to best provide restitution and support for Black communities across the state following historical mistreatment. The bills are intended to be just the first legislative actions in an effort that will likely span years.

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California State Democratic Sen. Steven Bradford authored the new bill creating a genealogy office to determine eligibility for reparations benefits. (Media News Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram)

California's reparations plan drew backlash after its task force recommended compensating qualifying Black residents up to $1 million in cash payments from the state, along with other benefits such as eliminating child support debt and free tuition to public colleges. 

The cash proposal was dropped from the package introduced this year.

Bradford previously dismissed concerns about the financial costs and political will to deliver some of the task force's costly recommendations, telling NPR that these could "be easily provided."

A majority of Californians, however, are opposed to cash payments for descendants of enslaved people, Fox News Digital previously reported.

A University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll found that 59% of voters oppose cash reparations, with 44% saying they were "strongly opposed." Only 28% said they supported the idea.

Fox News' Ashley Carnahan and Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.

Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.