California Gov. Newsom Silent on Insane $640 Billion Reparations Program

• California Governor Gavin Newsom has been largely silent about his state’s proposed reparations for black residents, according to the Washington Examiner. A task force, which was formed in 2020 via a bill signed by the governor, is scheduled to release its final report on July 1 after three years of research and discussion.
• Under the current proposal, the state task force is calling for $360,000 to be given to the approximately 1.8 million black residents in California who have at least one slave ancestor.
• Once the task force makes its recommendations, the state legislature will vote on them. However, activists are pushing for Newsom to enact the proposal through executive action. While he may have the power to do so, the governor faces pressure as the state grapples with a budget deficit of nearly $22.5 billion for the next fiscal year. 
• Newsom has indicated his determination to implement the reparations program. He vetoed a bill last year that would have extended the timeline for the task force’s recommendations, explaining that it was at the request of the now-state Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who introduced the bill in the legislature in 2020. The veto is evidence enough that Newsom backs the plan, but it is unclear what he intends to do.

Why It Matters

• The proposed reparations program is estimated to cost the state $640 billion, requiring cuts to other programs to offset the deficit. Newsom’s 2023-2024 budget includes various programs, including a $330 million-per-year extension of the state’s tax credit program for film and television productions from 2025 to 2030.
• Issuing reparations for black citizens of a state that entered the union as a free state is nonsensical, and likely to generate outrage, though that probably won’t stop other progressive states from following their lead.

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