Global Courant 2023-05-07 06:40:08
California’s first reparations task force has voted to approve recommendations on how the state should compensate black Americans and apologize in response to slavery.
The nine-member commission that has been deliberating on the recommendations for two years voted Saturday night in Oakland, California, to give final approval to a comprehensive report containing proposals that will then go to state lawmakers in Sacramento to consider for reparations.
The California task force’s recommendations range from creating a new agency to provide services to descendants of enslaved people to tailored calculations of what the state owes residents for issues such as housing discrimination and police brutality.
The task force approved a public apology acknowledging the state’s responsibility for past wrongdoings and pledging the state not to repeat them. It would be issued in the presence of people whose ancestors had been enslaved.
Activists demand higher payments from CALIFORNIA REPARATIONS TASK FORCE: ‘$200 MILLION’ PER PERSON
Dr. Jovan Lewis, center, listens as the California Reparations Task Force meets to hear public input on reparations at the California Science Center in Los Angeles (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The commission will meet again in Sacramento on June 29 to officially present the final report to the state legislature.
The task force has not proposed an official price tag that will be ironed out by the legislature, but experts believe the cost could run into the billions of dollars. The report includes estimates of projected refunds and suggestions about who would be eligible for payments.
Economists in March predicted in a preliminary estimate that California’s recovery plan could cost the state more than $800 billion. The task force, which consulted five economists and policy experts to arrive at the number, said at the time that the total did not include compensation for property the group says was unfairly taken or for the devaluation of black-owned companies.
California’s total annual state budget is about $300 billion.
Earlier this week, however, the task force released its latest proposals, which don’t include a blanket price tag, but instead outline how California might calculate how much money black residents have lost since 1850, when the state was founded, to today due to discrimination.
CALIFORNIA REPAIR PANEL SAYS TOTAL COST ‘LEAST IMPORTANT’ ASPECT DESPITE POTENTIAL $800B PRICE TAG
Reverend Tony Pierce calls for millions of dollars in reparations for every black Californian at a meeting of the California Reparations Task Force on May 6, 2023. (YouTube screenshot from California Department of Justice channel)
Whatever the final numbers, it’s unclear how California would afford to pay millions of dollars to every eligible black resident. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced in January that the state will face a budget deficit of $22.5 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. Weeks later, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, a government agency that analyzes the budget for state legislatures, estimated in a subsequent report that Newsom’s forecast fell short of the target by about $7 billion.
In all, a black person who has lived in California all their life, until at least age 71, could potentially receive more than $1.2 million in lifetime restitution.
The panelists debated different ways to compensate Black Americans for slavery, such as housing subsidies and college tuition, but ultimately decided to recommend direct payments.
Any final decision on reparations must be approved by the Democrat-controlled California legislature and signed by Newsom.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a news conference in Sacramento, California, Thursday, March 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Aaron Kliegman of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report
Andrew Mark Miller is a writer at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
