California’s reparations task force is preparing to recommend that the Golden State apologize and issue “down payments” to Black residents as a way to make amends for slavery and discrimination, although the state explicitly outlawed slavery when it joined the Union in 1850.
The task force, created by state legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020, on Monday published more than 500 pages of documents that indicate it plans to recommend California issue a formal apology for slavery and racism and consider payments of varying amounts to eligible Black Californians.
The draft report also recommends a slew of policy changes, including banning cash bail, a controversial move that some have blamed for increases in crime in areas that have adopted it.Â
Economists predicted in a preliminary estimate in March that California’s reparations 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 didn’t include compensation for property that the group says was taken unjustly or for the devaluation of Black-owned businesses.
CALIFORNIA REPARATIONS PANEL SAYS TOTAL COST ‘LEAST IMPORTANT’ ASPECT DESPITE POTENTIAL $800B PRICE TAG
California’s total annual state budget sits at roughly $300 billion.
However, the task force’s latest batch of documents, which include a draft final report and agenda items to discuss at an upcoming meeting, don’t contain an overall price tag. Instead, they outline ways California could calculate how much money Black residents have lost since 1850, when the state was established, through today due to discrimination.
Calculations would vary depending on how long a person has lived in California and the type of racial harm that person suffered. The final report suggests dollar amounts that have been lost for specific types of racial discrimination, indicating that those amounts should be paid back to Black residents.
These estimates…
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