


Two bills meant to help repair harms committed against Black Californians are facing headwinds in the waning days of the state’s legislative session, including from Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The measures, Senate Bills 1331 and 1403, would create a new state agency and also a fund to help implement policies recommended last year by a first-in-the nation state task force on reparations.
Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, a member of the task force, wanted to bring up the bills today. But the bills have stalled in the Assembly, and sources with knowledge of their status said the governor’s office has financial concerns that could affect whether or not Newsom signs them.
Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, a Suisun City Democrat and chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said Thursday evening lawmakers were trying to confirm if they had enough votes for the measures.
“I have the votes, unless someone on the floor is actively working against me,” Bradford said Friday through a spokesperson.
Newsom’s office on Friday declined to comment. But in June he and lawmakers approved a state budget that closed a roughly $47 billion deficit; it included $12 million to help the state implement a series of reparations-related bills lawmakers hope will pass this year.
So far, the legislature has passed several bills that were on a priority list unveiled by the Legislative Black Caucus earlier this year.
The two pending bills were not on the list. The group’s recommendations also did not include cash payments to descendants of slavery.
“There are cost pressures related to those bills,” Wilson said about the pending measures, as well as “our entire reparations package, and that’s why we have been really thoughtful about what we have put forward strategically as a priority.”
On Thursday, Department of Finance Director Joe Stephenshaw held a closed door meeting with Bradford, Wilson and staff.
After the meeting, Stephenshaw and Bradford both declined to comment when approached by a reporter from The Sacramento Bee.
Senate Bill 1403 would create the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency. Its leader would be appointed by the governor and it would include an office of genealogy and legal affairs.
The California Government Operations Agency estimated the agency would cost $3 to $5 million annually to run.
Lawmakers, earlier this week, passed a bill that would require the agency’s legal office to investigate cases of people who said they had property taken away from them as a result of the racially motivated use of eminent domain and help compensate people whose claims are validated. They also approved a formal apology for the role state leaders played in supporting slavery and perpetuating other harms against Black people. If approved, a plaque will be placed in the Capitol.
Senate Bill 1331 would create a reparations and restorative justice fund to support policies approved by the Legislature and governor. The bill would allow the fund to receive money from federal and state sources and also from private donations and grants.
Kavon Ward, CEO and founder of reparations advocacy group Where Is My Land?, said in a statement: “we are incredibly disappointed that SB 1331 and SB 1403 were not voted on in the Assembly earlier this week.”
Bradford is in his last days in the Legislature due to term limits. Wilson said if the bills don’t pass before the end of the session, Saturday at midnight, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the line for his proposals.
“If we don’t get it across the finish line this year,” Wilson said, “trust me you will see it again. They are not gone for good.”