The California state Senate passed three reparations bills on Tuesday, advancing a broader legislative effort to provide restitution to descendants of slaves.
The bills passed this week are part of more than a dozen reparations bills proposed by the California Legislative Black Caucus earlier this year, ABC7 reported. The bills "issue an apology to Black Californians for the state's role in instituting slave laws and discriminatory practices since its founding," the outlet wrote. The bills will now head to the California State Assembly for votes.
California introduced a package of reparations bills in January that would give property compensation and cash payouts to the descendants of slaves and other Black Californians. The assembly voted down previous bills on the issue, including one which would have provided homeownership aid and another which would have offered property tax relief for descendants of slaves, according to ABC7.
The SB 1403 bill passed in the state senate this week addresses the creation of the California Freedmen Affairs Agency, which would ensure that a recipient of potential reparations meets the eligibility criteria. Recipients would need to be a descendant of slaves or a free Black person living in the U.S. prior to the end of the 19th century.
SB 1050 would mandate the California Freedmen Affairs Agency to pay families who have had their property seized from them due to "race-based" eminent domain. SB 1331 allocates funds for reparations policies signed into law by the governor, as reported by ABC7.
Democrat state Senator Steven Bradford of Southern California, who authored the three bills said on the floor, "If you can inherit generational wealth, you can inherit generational debt."
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"Reparations is a debt that's owed to descendants of slavery," he added. "These are not a handout or charity by any measure. It is what was promised, it's what is owed and what is 160 years overdue."
The bills come after the California Assembly passed a bill last month accepting responsibility for "all of the harms and atrocities committed by the state."
"It is undeniable that our systems of government have been complicit in the oppression of African Americans. ... California’s history is tarnished by the subjugation of Black people," Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said in support of the bill. "It is a wound that still needs to heal."
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California is part of a trend of local and state governments across the U.S. establishing a task force that would recommend how reparations would be executed.
In Boston, Massachusetts, task force members will propose reparations measures based on historical research and other factors compiled by the experts for City Hall to consider. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul established a reparations task force last year in December.
Not all voters support compensating qualifying Black residents. A poll released in September found that a majority of voters in California are opposed to cash payments to the descendants of slaves.
