California Governor Gavin Newsom recently rejected a bill aimed at assisting Black families in reclaiming or receiving compensation for property that was unjustly taken by the government. The legislation would have established a process for families to file claims with the state if they believed their property was seized through eminent domain with discriminatory motives and without fair compensation. Unfortunately, the bill could not fully come into effect as another bill to create a reparations agency to review such claims was blocked by lawmakers.

This veto was a setback for a series of reparations bills supported by the California Legislative Black Caucus to address historical injustices faced by Black Americans. In addition to the eminent domain bill, the caucus also proposed bills for a formal apology for slavery, combating hair discrimination, and preventing book bans in state prisons. State Senator Steven Bradford introduced the eminent domain bill after a Black couple in the Los Angeles area had their beachfront property returned a century after it was taken from their ancestors through eminent domain.

Furthermore, Bradford introduced bills this year to establish an agency to assist Black families in tracing their lineage and implementing reparations programs, as well as creating a fund for reparations legislation. However, the reparations agency and fund bills were blocked from a final vote by the Black caucus over concerns about legislative oversight and their prioritization of other reparations bills.

The Newsom administration had previously proposed allocating $6 million to California State University to research how the reparations task force’s recommendations could be implemented, instead of creating a separate agency. The administration did not provide any public comments on the reparations agency and fund proposals. The Department of Finance within the administration had opposed the eminent domain bill, stating that it was not budgeted for, and estimating potential costs of implementing the bill could range from hundreds of thousands to low millions of dollars annually, depending on the workload involved in processing applications.