SACRAMENTO, CA—Today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the last of the key legislative proposals sent for consideration by the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), rounding out another year of Caucus-sponsored bills advocating for the advancement of descendants of United States chattel slavery.
The measures, part of the CLBC’s Road to Repair legislative package, aimed to level the playing field for the descendants by identifying the most evident institutional harms and establishing pathways to overcome historic state-sponsored barriers to equitable social and economic prosperity.
“We thank Governor Newsom for signing our historic legislative proposals,” said CLBC Chair Senator Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D. “California is, once again, the first in the nation to establish a state department tasked with ensuring equitable access for a historically marginalized community. The California Legislative Black Caucus will continue to chart pathways to parity for slavery descendants and look forward to working with the Administration in the upcoming legislative session. ” said Weber Pierson, M.D.
The collection of bills was inspired by the work of the California Reparations Task Force Final Report, a painstakingly thorough analysis of the institution of slavery in the United States and California’s role in perpetuating the harms inflicted upon Black Californians.
For two years, task force members, California Department of Justice personnel, and legislative staff poured over thousands of pages of evidentiary documents, artifacts, and communications, and heard hundreds of in-person and virtual public testimony, culminating in a compendium of state actions against enslaved persons.
Since the release of the report, the CLBC and its members have forged ahead with legislative proposals tackling the extreme disparity among descendants marred by the viscous slave-era structures that permeate today, many of which require a patient, steady hand to guide through an ever-shifting legislative process.
“While not all of our bills were signed into law, a lot of good work has been done this year,” said Weber Pierson. “Progress takes time and the CLBC will continue to fight for Black Californians.”
The following CLBC priority bills have been signed into law:
• SB 518 (Weber Pierson)—establishes the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery within the Civil Rights Department.
• SB 437 (Weber Pierson)—requires the California State University to research methodologies for determining an individual’s descendancy and make recommendations for state-level implementation.
• SB 464 (Smallwood-Cuevas)—expands employer-employee demographic data reporting for the purpose of enforcing civil rights protections.
• SB 510 (Richardson)—requires the Instructional Quality Commission to consider including content on the historical, social, economic, and political contributions of African Americans.
• AB 935 (Ransom)—requires public posting of anonymized data on civil rights complaints.
Governor Newsom returned the following bills without his signature:
• AB 7 (Bryan)—would have authorized California colleges to offer priority admission to descendants of U.S. chattel slavery.
• AB 57 (McKinnor)—would have allocated 10 percent of California Dram for All funds to descendants of U.S. chattel slavery
• AB 62 (McKinnor)—would have required the Civil Rights Department to establish a process for victims of racially-motivated eminent domain to seek restitution.
• AB 742 (Elhawary)—would have added descendants of U.S. chattel slavery to the list of groups eligible for expedited processing of professional licenses.
• AB 766 (Sharp-Collins)—would have expanded reporting as part of existing equity analyses of executive branch agencies.