California Senate advances trio of reparations bills in significant move

Sacramento, California - California state Senator Steven Bradford has announced on Tuesday that three separate reparations bills had passed out of the upper chamber.

Three reparations bills introduced by Senator Steven Bradford have passed out of the California Senate.
Three reparations bills introduced by Senator Steven Bradford have passed out of the California Senate.  © Arturo Holmes / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

Senate Bill 1403 would create the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency, tasked with helping administer reparations. The legislation advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in April.

If enacted, the government agency would have its own Genealogy Office and Office of Legal Affairs to support reparations claims. It would also have the power to oversee and monitor existing state agencies and departments' implementation of reparations measures that fall within their scope of authority.

Senate Bill 1050 would establish a means of restoring property seized in race-based uses of eminent domain to the original owners or their descendants, or providing them with financial compensation.

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Senate Bill 1331 would set up the Fund for Reparations and Reparative Justice in the state treasury to finance reparations initiatives approved by the legislature and governor.

Bradford introduced all three bills in the months since the California Reparations Task Force released its groundbreaking final report. The nine-member body's 115 policy recommendations were designed to address generations of harms against Black people.

Bradford's bills now head to the California Assembly for consideration.

Cover photo: Arturo Holmes / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

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