Black legislators were furious Saturday as a pair of bills to fund reparations stalled in the California state legislature as Gov. Gavin Newsom warned about costs, and activists warned Kamala Harris could suffer politically as a result.
As Breitbart News reported, Democrats introduced a package of reparations bills, following the establishment of a committee to study reparations, which Newsom signed into law at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.
The fact that California entered the Union as a free state in 1850 did not seem to matter; what was important was to set an example for the rest of the nation.
After years of deliberations that included proposals for massive cash transfers — perhaps $1.2 million to each black recipient, in one estimate — the reparations proposals included bills to offer apologies for slavery and discrimination, but no cash.
Newsom’s budget this year, which had to grapple with a near-$50 billion deficit, slashed spending on many programs but included $12 million for reparations proposals.
Newsom hoped to use that money for further study; activists wanted to see real cash, and a real commitment.
The Associated Press reported:
California lawmakers this week passed some of the nation’s most ambitious legislation aimed at atoning for a legacy of racist policies that drove disparities for Black people, from housing to education to health.
None of the bills would provide widespread direct payments to African Americans. The state Legislature instead approved proposals allowing for the return of land or compensation to families whose property was unjustly seized by the government, and issuing a formal apology for laws and practices that have harmed Black people.
But lawmakers left out two bills that would have created a fund and an agency to carry out the measures, considered key components of the efforts to take action. California Legislative Black Caucus Chair Assemblymember Lori Wilson said Saturday that the Black Caucus pulled the bills, adding the proposals need more work.
Politico added:
A California state lawmaker is blaming Gov. Gavin Newsom for the stalling of key slavery reparations bills on the final day of the legislative session.
Democratic state Sen. Steven Bradford and other advocates backing the state’s multiyear effort to repair harms from institutional racism say Newsom’s aides pushed to dramatically narrow a proposal for a new state reparations agency. The changes mean the state would instead simply authorize the further study of the issue.
As Breitbart News noted, furious activists blamed Newsom and also said that Vice President Harris would be hurt politically by her own failure to stand up for the bills in her home state.Draft amendments obtained by POLITICO Saturday, but dated Monday, proposed sending $6 million to California State University to study how to implement recommendations from the state’s task force on reparations, including how to confirm the status of a person seeking reparations. The draft changes remove the bill’s core purpose: creating a new Freedmen Affairs Agency.
“They’re killing the bills because they’re scared of the governor.”
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) August 31, 2024
Advocates for Reparations bills to establish new CA freedman affairs agency and reparations fund are urging Assembly to vote on the bills.
“This is going to impact your friend, Kamala Harris..” pic.twitter.com/PeLi3EgGDZ
Harris supported reparations for slavery when she ran for president in 2019 (she dropped out before the first primary votes in 2020).
Fox News reported that Newsom has until Sep. 30 to decide whether to sign the reparations bills that managed to pass.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
