Newsom may face pressure to enact reparations if legislature does not

As California considers a proposal for reparations to black citizens, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) may face pressure to enact the payments if the state legislature elects to do nothing on the proposal.

The California Reparations Task Force has proposed giving $360,000 to every black California resident, with a final report and recommendation due to be made by July 1.

CALIFORNIA PUSHES FOR $360,000 PER PERSON IN REPARATIONS DESPITE MAJOR DEFICIT

State lawmakers are expected to vote into law the recommendations from the task force, which Newsom commissioned in 2020, but if they do not, then the pressure will fall on the California governor to do so.

Dreisen Heath, an activist for reparations who works for advocacy group Where Is My Land, told Fox News that Newsom should ensure the recommendations from the task force are enacted.

“The task force is doing the grunt work of preparing final recommendations, but at the end of the day, these recommendations are nonbinding and still require uncompromising political will to enact remedies that will begin to address centuries of compounded harm,” Heath said. “Gov. 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 argues the task force must also unveil “targeted remedies” for the “harms” black residents of the Golden State have endured during the state’s history.

“We know that black Californians have not only endured economic damage but also psychological, emotional, and political harms, too, and thus additional compensation and targeted remedies must be developed if this is to be considered a true reparations program,” Heath said. “Final recommendations should include a full calculation of these cumulative harms.”

The proposal would cost the state a reported $640 billion — as California faces a budget deficit of $22.5 billion for the next fiscal year.

California was admitted into the union in 1850 but has not legally allowed slavery at any time during its history as a state.

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Alongside California’s statewide proposed reparations program, San Francisco is also examining a proposal to give each black resident reparations of $5 million per person. Other proposals by the city include the elimination of personal debt and tax burdens, guaranteed annual incomes of at least $97,000 for the next 250 years, and homes in the city for $1 per family.

The San Francisco chapter of the NAACP has called for the San Francisco reparations plan to be rejected and instead use funds for investment in education, “economic empowerment,” public and affordable housing, healthcare, and a “black center of town” in the Fillmore Heritage Center.