The California Legislative Black Caucus on Wednesday announced the outline of the first set of reparations for descendants of enslaved African Americans in the United States, including calling for a formal apology from the state, Prohibiting involuntary forced labor and returning property seized by the government under prominent race-based territories.

The caucus has not yet called for cash payments among a list of 14 reparations bills it aims to pass this year that would enact wide-ranging reforms in education, civil rights, criminal justice, health care and business.

This package of bills is based on recommendations issued by the California Reparations Task Force at the end of a historic two-year process to study the effects of slavery and recommend policy changes to state legislators.

Rep. Rory D. Wilson (D-Suisun), chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, has listed a list of bills she hopes will start a debate on reparations in Congress as she and other members of Congress launch legislation. He said that an apology was his top priority. A campaign to educate the public about the state's legacy of racism.

The decision to forego requests for immediate cash payments comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers struggle to close a budget gap of at least $37.9 billion. Newsom has proposed gutting the state's rainy day reserves, cutting $8.5 billion from climate protection funds and cutting more than $1.2 billion to housing programs as a spending-cutting measure to make up for lower-than-expected tax revenues. ing.

“We started to realize that given the budget environment, we needed to make more systemic policy changes to address systemic racism, rather than large-scale budget requests. , because we didn't have the budget for it,” Wilson said. “Our priorities were focused on changing policy and creating opportunities.”

Newsom echoed statements from the task force and Black lawmakers that reparations are about more than cash payments. In a recent interview, he said he finished reading the task force's report at the end of the year, and his office completed a detailed 30-page analysis of the recommendations that looked at the work the state had already done and what more could be done. He said he is working on it. end.

When asked why the budget doesn't include reparations, he said he knows the Black Caucus plans to share its own list of priorities and doesn't want to pre-empt the Black Caucus process.

“That’s why we wanted to engage with them,” Newsom said. “Remember, this was initiated by Congress. This is a partnership and what we have in that report is what we have already done and are recommending that we are doing now. They realize there's a lot. This has given them time to evaluate everything. So they're being proactive.”

Cash payments in particular have struggled to gain traction among California voters, according to recent polls. Newsom dismissed the idea that passing reparations in an election year might be difficult.

“That wasn't part of my thinking,” Newsom said. “My thoughts are just accountability to be honest and responsible and to take the recommendations seriously.”

Wilson explained that this bill is the first step in a multi-year effort to pass reparations. She hopes that by educating the public about California's role in slavery and the harm caused by racist policies, she will help her colleagues and Californians understand the state's need for redemption. He said that

Here's a list of bills the California Congressional Black Caucus wants to pass this year:

• ACA7 — Amend the California Constitution to allow the state to fund programs for certain groups that extend life expectancy, improve educational outcomes, and help people escape poverty.
• ACA8 — Amend the California Constitution to prohibit involuntary servitude for incarcerated people.
• ACR135 — Formal recognition and acceptance of state responsibility for the harms and atrocities committed against state representatives who promoted, facilitated, coerced, and permitted slavery.
• AB1815 — Prohibits discrimination based on natural and protected hairstyles in all competitive sports in California.
• circa 1929 — Provides competitive grants to increase enrollment in STEM-related career and technical education by people of African American descent.
• Around 1975 — Provides medically supported meals and nutritional interventions as a permanent Medi-Cal benefit in California.
• AB1986 — Ending the California prison system's practice of banning books without oversight or review.

The proposals, which the caucus plans to submit within the next two weeks, aim to:

• Provides career education funding to redlined communities.
• Recover property acquired under race-based prominent domains or provide other remedies to original owners.
• Formal apology for human rights violations and crimes against humanity against African slaves and their descendants.
• Restrict solitary confinement in correctional detention facilities.
• Provides state-funded grants to African American communities to reduce violence.
• Requires notification to local stakeholders before closing grocery stores in underserved areas.
• Remove barriers to occupational licenses for people with criminal records.