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Governor Gavin Newsom has yet to explain how he plans to shell out more than $640billion to millions of Californians who descend from slaves – a lofty campaign intended to provide those families with reparations.
Created by Newsom’s office in 2020, The California Reparations Task Force is currently mulling over the proposal, which would see approximately 1.8 million black Californians gifted just under $360,000.
While still being mulled over by the state legislation, it is unclear how Newsom’s state could possibly fund such an undertaking, after it was announced in January the state is now also facing a projected budget deficit of $22.5 billion for the coming fiscal year.
The figure serves as a stark plunge from the $100billion surplus enjoyed by the Golden State last year, thanks to a litany of federal relief doled out during the pandemic, as well as capital gains seen during that span.
Worsening matters is a recent estimate arrived at by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), the agency tasked with keeping tabs on the state budget, that says the $640billion approximation is actually an underestimation – with the true number being as much as $7billion more.
Created by Newsom’s office in 2020, The California Reparations Task Force is mulling over the proposal, which would see 1.8 million Californians gifted $360,000, for a total of $640billion. The governor has yet to outline how his already embattled administration will pay those sums
LAO’s principal fiscal and policy analyst Chas Alamo made that revelations last week at the task force’s second in-person meeting in Sacramento, saying that he arrived at the true sum after learning the state reported roughly $10 billion less in tax revenues than expected.
The two-day meeting began on March 3, and saw the state financier suggest ‘several paths that could be possible for ultimate recommendations’ for the task force to ensure the proposed bill becomes a law – including the creation of an agency that would oversee reparation payments authorized by the state.
The official, however, neglected outline a plan on how the stat would actually pay for the large-scale payment program, which many have criticized as unrealistic.
‘The creation of a new agency would be initiated through the governor’s executive branch and reorganization process, but other options exist,’ said Alamo, California Black Media reported.
‘Regardless of the path, to initiate a new agency or enact any other recommendation that makes changes to state law, fundamentally both houses from the state legislature would have to approve the action and the governor will have to sign it.’
The proposed agency, the officials said, would be called California American Freedman Affairs Agency – though apart from the title, not much else was finalized during discussions at the Sacramento meeting, where members of the -all-black task force sought to define the prospective organization’s role.
LAO’s principal fiscal and policy analyst Chas Alamo revealed last week that the $640billion approximation is actually an underestimation – with the true number being as much as $7billion higher
After a two-hour spirited debate, all nine members agreed that the agency would be granted certain powers to easier analyze the millions of payments and who they go to, and boast a structure that would include a malleable administrative body that guides each payment.
‘The proposed entity would be an agency, independent agency, that would provide services where they don’t presently exist [and] provide oversight to existing (state) agencies,’ task force chair Kamilah V. Moore explained.
Members of the task force further said that the agency – which was only just thought up – would facilitate each restitution claim individually, setting up another staffed branch to process claims assist claimants in proving eligibility through yet another ‘genealogy’ department.
The proposed agency would also be responsible for the implementation and operation of policies and programs created to further aid for the payees, members said.
Over the course of the two days, no plan was aired by any member in how the state budget would be able to bear such a monumental undertaking, the costs of which could quickly rise as plans get into more advance stages.
Newsom, already facing a simultaneous housing and homelessness crisis in his state, is now facing pressure to explain how exactly his task force’s plan can become a reality.
Some have posited that a possible source of funding could be gained by hiking taxes on the wealthy – a practice that is far from taboo when looking at the state’s track record in doing so.
However, as previously mentioned, state tax revenues are markedly lower than last year’s, and California already owns the dubious distinction of boasting the highest top income tax rate of any state, at 13.3 percent.
The top 0.5 percent of state taxpayers currently dish out enough dough to cover more than 40 percent of of the state’s income tax – meaning that putting further pressure on those citizens could lead some to leave their homes for more financially forgiving locales.
Meanwhile, tax revenue in the current fiscal year were roughly $23billion lower than last year’s as of late last month, The Wall Street Journal reported, making the $640billion sum – which now appears to be a generous underestimation – even more out of reach.
The idea of giving reparations to black citizens has become popular across America, with cities including Boston, Massachusetts, St Paul, Minnesota, and St Louis, Missouri, as well as the California cities, San Francisco and Los Angeles, among those to have set up similar task forces.
Evanston, Illinois, in 2021 became the first US city to provide reparations to its Black residents, including giving housing grants.
The idea of giving reparations to black citizens has become popular across America, with cities including Boston, Massachusetts, St Paul, Minnesota, and St Louis, Missouri, as well as the California cities, San Francisco and LA, among those to have set up similar task forces
More recently politicians in Shelby County, Memphis, voted to allocate $5 million funding to a feasibility study which will ‘establish, develop and implement reparations.’
Cities including Boston, Massachusetts, St Paul, Minnesota, and St Louis, Missouri, as well as the California cities, San Francisco and Los Angeles, have also set up task forces and panels to hatch their own reparations plans.
In California, members of the black community have remained divided over the plan, with one woman saying racial injustice would not be solved ‘if we just throw money at it.’
Others have accused the scheme of being nothing more than a publicity stunt geared toward ‘marketing’ rather than offering genuine support to black Americans.
The taskforce has until July 1 to publish its recommendations and outline exactly how the reparations will be made.
It will then be up to lawmakers to decide whether to adopt them.
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