{"id":2271469,"date":"2024-06-19T12:22:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T16:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-wrestling-with-hidden-cost-of-reparations-push\/"},"modified":"2024-06-19T12:23:59","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T16:23:59","slug":"california-wrestling-with-hidden-cost-of-reparations-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-wrestling-with-hidden-cost-of-reparations-push\/","title":{"rendered":"California grapples with unforeseen expenses in reparations effort"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalifornia-wrestling-with-hidden-cost-of-reparations-push%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2271469&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>California is currently facing a\u2063 significant challenge\u200d as it \u2063grapples with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pointing-to-national-debt-ratings-agency-issues-negative-outlook-for-us-aaa-creditworthiness\/\" title=\"Pointing To National Debt, Ratings Agency Issues \u2018Negative Outlook\u2019 For US \u2018AAA\u2019 Creditworthiness\">large budget deficit<\/a> while simultaneously considering implementing reparations. The state \u2063is dealing with \u200ba $68 \u2063billion budget\u2062 shortfall, primarily due to decreased \u2064revenues in fiscal year 2022-2023.\u2064 Despite this financial strain, there are proposals suggesting that California could be responsible for up to $800 billion in reparations payments, far exceeding \u2063its usual annual budget.<\/p>\n<p>In an effort to address this issue, the California Legislative Black Caucus has\u200d initiated a statewide tour to rally support for 14 proposed reparation bills, \u2062including two\u2063 that would amend the \u200cstate constitution. So far, the California Senate has approved three bills within this legislative package. One \u2062of these bills aims to establish the California \u2063Freedmen Affairs Agency to assist black Californians in tracing their ancestral lineage\u2062 to determine their eligibility for potential \u200breparations.<\/p>\n<p>Among the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-ohio-voters-to-decide-how-easily-theyll-let-pro-abortion-interest-groups-change-their-constitution-2\/\" title=\"Ohio voters will determine the level of ease for pro-abortion interest groups to amend their constitution.\">proposed constitutional\u2064 amendments<\/a> is a \u2062measure to abolish prison labor in \u2063the state, an initiative that\u200c did\u200b not pass in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-tech-agenda-in-jeopardy-over-opposition-to-partisan-nominees\/\" title=\"Biden\u2019s Tech Agenda In Jeopardy Over Opposition To \u2018Partisan\u2019 Nominees\">previous legislative session<\/a> in 2022. \u2062Governor Gavin Newsom has expressed concerns about this measure, suggesting that prohibiting involuntary servitude in prisons could significantly increase state expenses, potentially requiring California to pay minimum wage to imprisoned individuals, which would cost\u200c the state an additional $1.5 billion each year.<\/p>\n<p>This \u200csituation\u200c is further complicated by California&#8217;s\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kevin-mccarthy-calls-on-pentagon-to-restore-nsa-general-counsel-michael-ellis-to-active-service\/\" title=\"Kevin McCarthy Calls on Pentagon to Restore NSA General Counsel Michael Ellis to Active Service\">long-standing practice<\/a> of employing inmate labor, notably within its Conservation \u2063Camp Program, where inmates are trained as firefighters to combat wildfires and are \u2063compensated nominally\u2064 for their work.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>California<\/a> is struggling to figure out how to deal with a massive budget deficit and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/reparations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reparations<\/a> the state Democrats are looking to turn into law. <\/p>\n<p>The Golden State is currently contending with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lao.ca.gov\/reports\/2023\/4819\/2024-25-Fiscal-Outlook-120723.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>$68 billion deficit<\/a>, a loss mostly due to a decline in revenue during fiscal 2022-2023. Still, it has been recommended the state pay out reparations, with some estimates predicting it could be on the hook for nearly $800 billion paid out, which is three times as high as a typical budget for California.<\/p>\n<p>This week, California\u2019s Legislative Black Caucus embarked on a statewide tour to argue in favor of <a href=\"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/california-divide\/2024\/06\/california-reparations-bills-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>14 reparation bills<\/a>, including two proposed constitutional amendments.<\/p>\n<p>The California Senate passed three of the bills in the legislation, including one that would create the California Freedmen Affairs Agency, which would help black Californians research their family lineage to confirm possible eligibility for future reparations the state would pay out.<\/p>\n<p>The constitutional amendments include one measure that would amend the state\u2019s constitution to outlaw prison labor. The amendment failed to make its way out of the state legislature in 2022. <\/p>\n<p>Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) previously warned that eliminating involuntary servitude could require the state to pay its inmates minimum wage and cost California $1.5 billion more per year. <\/p>\n<p>California has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/the-history-of-californias-inmate-firefighter-program-180980662\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>a long history <\/a>of using prison labor, including the state\u2019s Conservation Camp Program, in which inmates are trained to become firefighters to fight wildfires. As firefighters, they earn between $2.90 and $5 per day, but upon release, they cannot become firefighters as those with criminal convictions are <a href=\"https:\/\/iprospectcheck.com\/firefighter-background-check\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>barred<\/a> from doing so in the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s quite clear we want to eliminate involuntary servitude in California,\u201d state Sen. Steven Bradford, a Democrat, said. \u201cAnything less than that is falling short of the objective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReparations, as the public have come to understand them, are not popular,\u201d Giuliana Perrone, a historian and professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, told <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/california-reparations-dream-stark-reality-1914224\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Newsweek<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s because the public does not actually understand reparations. Many imagine that reparations are just payments or benefits given to certain people for past harms that occurred to their ancestors. This is incorrect,\u201d she said. \u201cReparations are meant to address the specific, ongoing harms that have continued to exist because the nation failed to fully abolish slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 2020, California <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/05\/16\/us\/san-francisco-reparations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>made history<\/a> when it became the first state to create a task force dedicated to studying methods to resolve the enduring legacy slavery and Jim Crow-era laws have placed on black people. The task force <a href=\"https:\/\/oag.ca.gov\/system\/files\/media\/full-ca-reparations.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>came back <\/a>with more than 100 recommendations for the state.<\/p>\n<p>For the task force to be on the ballot for a vote this year, lawmakers would need to get it off the ground quickly as the deadline for finalizing ballot measures is June 27. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California faces a daunting $68 billion budget deficit, primarily from reduced revenue in fiscal 2022-2023. Despite this, state Democrats are pushing to enact reparations laws. The financial shortfall poses significant challenges for the state&#8217;s fiscal management and legislative priorities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2910,"featured_media":2271470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24137393079865-1-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2271469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24137393079865-1-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2910"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2271469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2271470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2271469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2271469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2271469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}