Reparations

More than 4 million Africans and their descendants were enslaved throughout the United States. While California joined the Union in 1850 as a state free of slavery, the Legislature passed the California Fugitive Slave Act in 1852, which mandated that government officials and ordinary white citizens help slaveholders recapture people who escaped.  Now, 170 years […]

Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, October 1. Newsom signs high-profile bills As historic protests against police brutality and racism continue to sweep across California and the nation, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed into law a spate of racial and criminal justice legislation and several police reform bills — though the most ambitious police proposals […]

Good morning, California. It’s Monday, September 28. Controversial bills remain Gov. Gavin Newsom has just three days left to sign or veto some of the most high-profile and controversial bills of the legislative session — including a spate of proposals to police the police, a bill that would establish a state reparations committee, and a […]

A bill on Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk would authorize a reparations study for Black Californians. But a prominent scholar says he hopes California's effort won't detract from the national conversation on redressing slavery.

Good morning, California. It’s Monday, August 31. Legislative session ends today The fate of hundreds of thousands of California renters teetering on the brink of eviction — and of the landlords who depend on their rent payments — hangs in the balance of a cliffhanger vote lawmakers will take today. Their vote on a controversial […]

In a year when the coronavirus pandemic upended every aspect of normal life, the impact in the California Capitol was also dramatic. Lawmakers took an unprecedented two-month pause in the spring, when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide order for people to stay home to prevent the spread of the virus. They returned to the […]

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Assemblywoman Shirley Weber’s AB 3121 would establish a reparations committee to educate Californians about slavery and recommend ways the state can help remedy generations of inequality and discrimination.