California Reparations Bill for Racist Land Seizures Advances to Newsom's Desk

Are you curious about which reparations bills have passed the state Legislature? Check the KQED reparations bills tracker. 

Senate Bill 1050 now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk after passing the state Legislature.

The bill creates a state process for reviewing claims from people who believe they lost property through the racially motivated use of eminent domain. Claims deemed valid would be eligible for compensation. The final version of the bill passed both houses without opposition.

“The only time that property should be taken is through eminent domain, and it should only be used for a public good — for schools, roads and those types of situations,” Sen. Brian Dahle (R-Bieber) said. “If it’s been taken in any other way, that’s unjust, and it should be rectified.”

In February, the California Legislative Black Caucus announced the 14 reparations bills it was prioritizing. CLBC members curated the list to test the limits of the Legislature’s commitment to racial justice while seeking to avoid a wholesale rejection that could derail the quest for reparations.

The bills were drawn from two years of work by the California Reparations Task Force, which KQED has reported on since its inception. The task force’s final report, published in June 2023, includes over 100 policy proposals, as well as a plan to provide direct cash payments to eligible residents. None of the introduced bills include cash payments. During task force hearings, members emphasized that addressing racism is a requirement of reparations.

The movement to reclaim land taken by racist government action has found some success in California, most notably with the 2021 return of Bruce’s Beach in Southern California.

Since then, former residents of Russell City in Alameda County, Los Angeles and Palm Springs have launched campaigns for the return of land — or fair compensation for properties they believe were improperly razed.

If signed into law, SB 1050 would create a standardized state process to review claims. However, the bill is dependent on the passage of SB 1403, which is still pending before the Assembly. SB 1403 would establish the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency to implement the recommendations of the reparations task force. The agency would, among other duties, determine how an individual’s status as a descendant of an enslaved person would be confirmed.

If SB 1403 becomes law, SB 1050 would still need the Legislature to allocate funding to the bill for it to be enacted.

In addition to being one of the CLB’s priority reparations bills, SB 1050 has also become a priority for reparations activists.

“The original promise of reparations always began with property and land. If you think about the ’40 acres and the mule’ original promise, that was about land and property,” said Chris Lodgson, lead organizer for the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California. “So one of the natural first steps would be to start with the return of that land or compensating those families of rightful owners with the fair market value of that land and that property.

“SB 1050 does that.”

Here’s a brief recap of SB 1050. For more information on reparations bills, visit our tracker.

Author: Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena)

What it wanted to do: Review, investigate and “make certain determinations” on applications from California residents who claim their land was taken through racially motivated use of eminent domain without being provided fair compensation.

Why is this reparations? Between 1949 and 1973, Black Americans were five times more likely than white Americans to be displaced by government use of eminent domain. In the Bay Area, the Fillmore, Russell City and West Oakland were impacted by the practice. According to research by the reparations task force, displaced families and businesses often said the money the government provided for the land was below market rate and insufficient for relocation.

Catch up quickly: SB 1050, authored by Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), a member of the reparations task force, is dependent on SB 1403, which would create a government agency to manage reparations programs for eligible Black Californians, passing.

SB 1050 would instruct the new agency’s Office of Legal Affairs to review claims, make payments to eligible families and provide public education about the unjust use of eminent domain throughout the state. Initially, the bill required the state to review its own history of taking land and locate victims to provide compensation. The bill was amended on April 3 to put the onus on individuals to apply to the state for compensation.

SB 1050 passed the Judiciary Committee on April 16 with an 8–1 vote before heading to the Appropriations Committee. Sen. Roger Niello (R-Roseville) voted no. He argued local jurisdictions that used eminent domain in racist ways should be responsible for providing compensation, not state taxpayers.

“Manhattan Beach was responsible for what happened, not Modoc County,” he said, referring to Bruce’s Beach.

In response, Bradford implied the state review process might require local jurisdictions to provide compensation as well.

“This obligation doesn’t fall on the state in of itself. Local jurisdictions will be responsible if they played a direct role,” he said.

The bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee with unanimous support on May 13 and was placed on the committee’s “suspense file.” It passed out of the “suspense file” with a 5–2 vote along party lines — Republicans voted against the bill — on May 16.

It passed the state Senate on May 21 with a 32–4 vote. SB 1050 passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on June 11.