California Reparations Bill Passed in Assembly Judiciary Committee

A reparations bill aimed at giving at least 10% of funds from California Housing Finance Agency’s home purchase assistance program to qualified individuals who are descendants of formerly enslaved people continued to move up in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

According to Assembly Bill 57, authored by Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor (D-Hawthorne), it requires, upon establishment of an agency to determine whether an applicant qualifies as a descendant of a formerly enslaved person, that at least 10% of the moneys in the California Housing Finance Agency home purchase assistance program fund be made available to applicants who meet the requirements for a loan under the home purchase assistance program and are descendants of formerly enslaved people.

AB 57 was one of 16 reparations bills introduced this year, piggybacking off of a disastrous 2024 where only a few of the 14 reparations bills introduced were ultimately signed into law. Even more, the bills this year also follow California voters soundly rejecting Proposition 6, which would have halted involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime, in November. Several of this years reparations bills are second attempts of bills from last year, including a crucial bill that would set up a new bureau in California that would assist with Californians wanting to use reparations programs. Like many of the reparations bills last year, it was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom because of high costs, being unaffordable because of the state’s budget situation, or because they gave payments of some sort, the latter of which he said he wouldn’t support.

As California is still in a budget deficit, with a shrinking tax revenue expected in the next year thanks to an uncertain economy, most of the reparations bill authors this year opted for either having a no-cost or low-cost price tag, or for siphoning off from existing programs to fund their bills. AB 57 opts for the latter.

Assemblywoman McKinnor has previously stated that she wants the bill to give first-time home ownership to those who were formerly enslaved.

“We can repair the generational harm and damage of slavery by showing leadership,” said McKinnor last month. “My AB 57 was approved by the Assembly Housing Committee this week to provide first time homeownership assistance for the descendants of formerly enslaved people. It is an important step to ensure that all Californians can achieve the American dream.”

During an Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, the Assemblywoman continued to press those points, with groups like the NAACP attempting to back her.

“Housing policies were designed to discriminate against those descendants,” said NAACP California-Hawaii State Conference government relations specialist Taneicia Herring. “They ensured that true equality was never an option to begin with.”

However, opponents of the bill showed that, just like all the reparations bills from 2024 and this year, there was going to be a major challenge. The Pacific Legal Foundation suggested that the 10% of assistance program funds go to people who suffered an injury instead of it being based on lineage. Since the bill is focusing on race, there would be a Constitutional challenge against it if it ultimately was signed, perhaps making AB 57 moot.

Despite this, AB 57 ultimately passed the Committee on Tuesday. In a statement on Instagram, McKinnor thanked all those who supported the bill in the hearing.

“AB 57 passed the Housing Committee. Thank you Tanecia Herring, California Hawaii State Conference NAACP for testifying,” added McKinnor.

Even with the passage on Tuesday, AB 57 is anything but a done deal. A growing GOP and moderate Democrat Legislature will likely mean more challenges than last year for all the reparations bills. And like 2024, many could be pulled if Gov. Newsom signals that he won’t sign them, or be vetoed in September because of potential costs. Following that, if some bills are signed, like AB 57, may still be subject to lawsuits and legal review.

AB 57 will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the last stop before an Assembly-wide vote on the bill.