California Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected seven-figure cash payments recommended by his reparations task force, which could reach as high as $1.2 million for a single recipient.
The announcement, first made to FOX News on Tuesday, comes less than three days after California’s Reparations Task Force approved its final report for the California State Legislature.
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Driving the news: Newsom stated that dealing with the legacy of slavery “is about much more than cash payments” and that the task force’s recommendations are critical action items that California has already been addressing.
- The task force’s recommendations include breaking down barriers to vote, bolstering resources to address hate, enacting sweeping law enforcement and justice reforms to build trust and safety, strengthening economic mobility, and investing billions to root out disparities and improve equity in housing, education, healthcare, and beyond.
- The task force’s recommendation breaks payments down by types of historical discrimination. For instance, Black residents affected by redlining by banks would receive $3,366 for each year they lived in California from the early 1930s to the late 1970s, amounting to up to $148,099.
- Similarly, Black residents could receive roughly $2,352 in compensation for over-policing and mass incarceration for each year they lived in California between 1970 and 2020. Those payments could amount to $115,260. For a Black Californian who checks enough boxes, the total payout could reach $1.2 million.
- The task force’s final recommendations will soon 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.
- Newsom declined to endorse any specific recommendations, though he pledged to continue to “advance systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians.”
What they’re saying: In a statement issued Monday night, Newsom drew the distinction between the cash sum and systemic overhaul.
- “Dealing with that legacy is about much more than cash payments. Many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are critical action items we’ve already been hard at work addressing: breaking down barriers to vote, bolstering resources to address hate, enacting sweeping law enforcement and justice reforms to build trust and safety, strengthening economic mobility — all while investing billions to root out disparities and improve equity in housing, education, healthcare, and well beyond. This work must continue,” Newsom said.
- “Following the Task Force’s submission of its final report this summer, I look forward to a continued partnership with the Legislature to advance systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians,” the governor’s statement concluded.
- In a statement California Assembly GOP Leader James Gallagher (R–Yuba City) criticized the reparations task force, calling it a “fool’s errand” that will bankrupt the state.
- “Democrats have promised the world with this reparations task force, and now the massive taxpayer bill is coming due. Newsom has painted himself into a corner, and he’ll have to choose between signing off on a ridiculous policy that will bankrupt the state or admitting once and for all that this task force was nothing more than a political stunt.”
