Newsom Pressured To Pay Reparations

Governor Newsom

By Aaron Kliegman, Fox News, March 20, 2023
(Note: California entered the Union in 1850 as a free state.)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing increased pressure to use his authority to unilaterally enact proposals that would dole out billions of dollars to Black residents in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery if the state legislature doesn't act.

The California Reparations Task Force, which was created by state legislation in 2020, is considering a proposal to give just under $360,000 per person to approximately 1.8 million Black Californians who had an ancestor enslaved in the U.S., putting the total cost of the program at about $640 billion.

The task force's final recommendations for reparations will be submitted to the California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them to Newsom's desk to be signed into law.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing increased pressure to use his authority to unilaterally enact proposals that would dole out billions of dollars to Black residents in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery if the state legislature doesn't act.

The California Reparations Task Force, which was created by state legislation in 2020, is considering a proposal to give just under $360,000 per person to approximately 1.8 million Black Californians who had an ancestor enslaved in the U.S., putting the total cost of the program at about $640 billion.

The task force's final recommendations for reparations will be submitted to the California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them to Newsom's desk to be signed into law.

The task force is doing the grunt work of preparing final recommendations, but at the end of the day these recommendations are non-binding and still require uncompromising political will to enact remedies that will begin to address centuries of compounded harm," Dreisen Heath told Fox News Digital. "Governor Newsom has the authority to enact these recommendations, if they are in fact aligned with the entire descendant community's wishes, following the issuance of the final report on July 1, and should do so, if state lawmakers fail to act."

Heath, who's testified before Congress and for years worked as a researcher at Human Rights Watch, noted that activists have similarly been "pressing the Biden administration to use his executive authority to immediately establish a federal reparations commission given the deliberate stalling at the congressional level."

Racial justice groups and some Democrats in Congress have been pushing President Biden for months to establish a national reparations commission by executive order. The White House has indicated Biden, who's largely been quiet about the issue, supports studying potential reparations for Black Americans but has stopped short of By Aaron Kliegman, Fox News, March 20, 2023
(Note: California entered the Union in 1850 as a free state.)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing increased pressure to use his authority to unilaterally enact proposals that would dole out billions of dollars to Black residents in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery if the state legislature doesn't act.

The California Reparations Task Force, which was created by state legislation in 2020, is considering a proposal to give just under $360,000 per person to approximately 1.8 million Black Californians who had an ancestor enslaved in the U.S., putting the total cost of the program at about $640 billion.

The task force's final recommendations for reparations will be submitted to the California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them to Newsom's desk to be signed into law.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing increased pressure to use his authority to unilaterally enact proposals that would dole out billions of dollars to Black residents in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery if the state legislature doesn't act.

The California Reparations Task Force, which was created by state legislation in 2020, is considering a proposal to give just under $360,000 per person to approximately 1.8 million Black Californians who had an ancestor enslaved in the U.S., putting the total cost of the program at about $640 billion.

The task force's final recommendations for reparations will be submitted to the California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them to Newsom's desk to be signed into law.

"The task force is doing the grunt work of preparing final recommendations, but at the end of the day these recommendations are non-binding and still require uncompromising political will to enact remedies that will begin to address centuries of compounded harm," Dreisen Heath told Fox News Digital. "Governor Newsom has the authority to enact these recommendations, if they are in fact aligned with the entire descendant community's wishes, following the issuance of the final report on July 1, and should do so, if state lawmakers fail to act."

Heath, who's testified before Congress and for years worked as a researcher at Human Rights Watch, noted that activists have similarly been "pressing the Biden administration to use his executive authority to immediately establish a federal reparations commission given the deliberate stalling at the congressional level."

Racial justice groups and some Democrats in Congress have been pushing President Biden for months to establish a national reparations commission by executive order. The White House has indicated Biden, who's largely been quiet about the issue, supports studying potential reparations for Black Americans but has stopped short ofBy Aaron Kliegman, Fox News, March 20, 2023
(Note: California entered the Union in 1850 as a free state.)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing increased pressure to use his authority to unilaterally enact proposals that would dole out billions of dollars to Black residents in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery if the state legislature doesn't act.

The California Reparations Task Force, which was created by state legislation in 2020, is considering a proposal to give just under $360,000 per person to approximately 1.8 million Black Californians who had an ancestor enslaved in the U.S., putting the total cost of the program at about $640 billion.

The task force's final recommendations for reparations will be submitted to the California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them to Newsom's desk to be signed into law.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing increased pressure to use his authority to unilaterally enact proposals that would dole out billions of dollars to Black residents in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery if the state legislature doesn't act.

The California Reparations Task Force, which was created by state legislation in 2020, is considering a proposal to give just under $360,000 per person to approximately 1.8 million Black Californians who had an ancestor enslaved in the U.S., putting the total cost of the program at about $640 billion.

The task force's final recommendations for reparations will be submitted to the California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them to Newsom's desk to be signed into law.

"The task force is doing the grunt work of preparing final recommendations, but at the end of the day these recommendations are non-binding and still require uncompromising political will to enact remedies that will begin to address centuries of compounded harm," Dreisen Heath told Fox News Digital. "Governor Newsom has the authority to enact these recommendations, if they are in fact aligned with the entire descendant community's wishes, following the issuance of the final report on July 1, and should do so, if state lawmakers fail to act."

Heath, who's testified before Congress and for years worked as a researcher at Human Rights Watch, noted that activists have similarly been "pressing the Biden administration to use his executive authority to immediately establish a federal reparations commission given the deliberate stalling at the congressional level."

Racial justice groups and some Democrats in Congress have been pushing President Biden for months to establish a national reparations commission by executive order. The White House has indicated Biden, who's largely been quiet about the issue, supports studying potential reparations for Black Americans but has stopped short of saying he'd back a bill introduced in Congress that would create such a commission.

As for California, however, the reparations process is well underway.  Last year, the state task force made several preliminary recommendations in an interim report. A final report with the panel's official recommendations is due by July 1 to the state legislature.