According to The Center Square, the state of California is currently contemplating allocating $12 million towards reparations-related legislation. This would come after the governor declared a budget emergency, enabling the use of state rainy day funds to address the deficit.
Reparations bills with finite costs at the lower end amount to around $4.3 million annually. However, there are potential programs that could significantly increase state financial obligations, such as diverting savings from prison capacity reductions to fund gun violence reduction programs or making food a public health benefit for millions of Californians. The cost estimates for these programs range from hundreds of millions to tens of billions of dollars per year, making the overall cost difficult to determine.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has printed a cautionary note on the fiscal analysis of numerous bills. The note warns that the General Fund is expected to encounter a structural deficit amounting to tens of billions of dollars in the coming fiscal years.
State Senator Steven Bradford, a prominent supporter of reparations in the State Senate and Vice Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, successfully negotiated $12 million to be included in the pending bill.
In a statement, Bradford expressed his gratitude for the $12 million allocated for reparations in the state budget. While he acknowledged the desire for more funding, he emphasized the significance of this allocation in reflecting the state’s priorities and values even during challenging economic times.
Although the spending inclusion in the state’s main budget bill has been reported by news organizations including the Associated Press and New York Times, the junior budget bill AB 108 and the bills for creating reparations policies to allocate the funds are still pending.
AB 108, if approved, would enable the California Department of Finance to allocate a maximum of $12 million in the 2024-2025 fiscal year for reparations policies. This includes multiple Bradford bills that were not featured in California’s Legislative Black Caucus’s collection of 14 reparations bills, which were introduced earlier in the year. Among these, SB 1403, spearheaded by Bradford, stands out as one of the most significant.
The California American Freedmen Affairs Agency, along with its Genealogy Office and Office of Legal Affairs, would be created by this bill. Its main objective is to identify individuals who are descendants of African American slaves and are therefore eligible for reparations. The initial cost of establishing and running the agency is estimated to be around $3-5 million per year. CAFA would be responsible for implementing the reparations task force’s recommendations, which could potentially provide eligible black residents of California with up to $1.2 million in compensation, as reported by CalMatters.
Bradford’s proposed legislation, SB 1050, mandates CAFA’s Office of Legal Affairs to probe into cases of “racially motivated eminent domain” and either return the confiscated property or provide monetary compensation. The bill has already been passed by the Senate and is now awaiting approval from the Assembly. It is estimated that this bill could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
CLBC announced AB 1929 as a bill that would create a competitive grant program to increase enrollment of descendants of slaves in STEM-related career technical education (CTE) programs at high school and college levels. However, the bill ultimately passed as a zero-cost disaggregation of existing collected data for an already established grant program. Currently, the bill is awaiting approval from the governor.
A recently proposed bill, AB 3131, aims to offer “Career Education Financial Aid for redlined communities.” The bill gives preference to local educational agencies currently receiving Equity Multiplier funding from the state for their workforce development grants. While this bill is expected to cost $322,000 in one-time expenses, it may also lead to unforeseen Proposition 98 General Fund cost pressure. It’s important to note that AB 3131 has yet to pass through either legislative body.
If passed, the proposed legislation, ACA 7, would introduce certain exceptions to the state constitution’s ban on discrimination or preferential treatment in public employment, education, and contracting. These exceptions would be applicable to programs aimed at improving life expectancy, educational outcomes, or uplifting specific groups based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, or marginalized genders, sexes, or sexual orientations. The bill has cleared the Assembly and is currently awaiting a decision in the Senate. It is worth noting that the bill comes with no direct costs except for a printing cost of around $1 million for the constitutional amendment, which would require approval from a majority of voters.
The state government would take responsibility for slavery and discrimination, as well as safeguarding the descendants of the enslaved, by accepting ACR 135, a declaration that comes at no cost. The Assembly has already approved the bill, and it now awaits consideration in the Senate.
The Assembly has passed AB 1815, a bill that aims to expand anti-discrimination protections to include hairstyles such as “braids, locs, and twists” at no cost. The bill is now awaiting approval from the Senate.
The Assembly has passed SB 3089, a no-cost bill that mandates the state to issue an apology for the damages inflicted upon African Americans. Currently, the bill is under review in the Senate.
In November’s election, voters will have the opportunity to approve ACA 8, a constitutional amendment that seeks to eliminate involuntary servitude in prisons. It’s important to note, however, that prisons would still be allowed to offer credits to those who choose to take on work assignments voluntarily. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has expressed concern over potential costs associated with this amendment, particularly if courts mandate that incarcerated individuals be paid minimum wage for work performed while in prison. Despite these concerns, the bill has already passed and awaits voter approval.
The Assembly recently passed AB 1986, which mandates the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to publish an online catalog of prohibited books for prisoners. Additionally, the proposed bill would also give authority to the Office of the Inspector General to scrutinize past and future book bans. Currently awaiting Senate approval, AB 1986 is a cost-free initiative.
The proposed AB 2064 would mandate that the state allocate the funds saved from reducing prison capacity towards community-based gun violence prevention programs. As per the legislative analysis, this could result in an annual expenditure of “hundreds of millions of dollars” since it involves utilizing the savings. The Assembly has passed the bill, and now it awaits consideration on the Senate floor.
If AB 1975 is approved, MediCal, the public health care program of California, will cover food as a health benefit. According to the Department of Health Care Services, the bill’s estimated annual cost would be $17.6 billion if 7 million Californians utilize the benefit, with half of the funding coming from federal matching. The Assembly has already passed the bill, and it now awaits a final Senate floor vote before it heads to the governor for approval.
The Assembly must still approve SB 1089, which mandates that grocery stores and drug stores give a notice of at least 60 days before closing down. This bill comes with no financial cost.
The proposed AB 2862 bill aims to give priority to descendants of African American slaves in licensing applications by state licensing boards. However, legal experts have raised concerns over its constitutionality. The bill, which has no cost attached to it, has passed the Assembly and is awaiting review by the Senate.
