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California could spend more than $800 billion to compensate Black residents for generations of over-policing, disproportionate incarceration and housing discrimination, economists told a state panel considering reparations.
The preliminary estimate is more than 2.5 times California’s $300 billion annual budget, and does not include the recommended $1 million per older black resident for health disparities that shorten their average life expectancy by life. Nor does the figure count paying people for property the government unjustly took or undermining Black businesses, two other harms the task force said the state maintained.
Black residents may not receive cash payments anytime soon, if ever, because the state may not accept the economists’ calculations. the reparations task force is scheduled to Discuss the numbers on Wednesday and can vote to adopt the proposals or create your own numbers. The proposed figure comes from a consulting team of five economists and policy experts.
“We have to go in with an open mind and come up with creative ways to deal with this,” said Assembly member Reggie Jones-Sawyer, one of two lawmakers on the task force responsible for gathering support from of state legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom before any reparations become a reality.
In an interview before the meeting, Jones-Sawyer said she would need to consult with budget analysts, other lawmakers and the governor’s office before deciding whether the reimbursement measure would work.
Estimates for policing and disproportionate incarceration and housing discrimination are not new. The numbers came out in a September presentation as the consulting group sought guidance on whether to use a national or California-specific model to calculate damages.
But the The task force must now settle on the amount of money because the July 1 deadline is looming for lawmakers to recommend how California should atone for its role in perpetuating racist systems that continue to harm Black people.
For those who support reparations, the staggering figure of $800 billion suggested by economists highlights the lasting damage suffered by Black Americans, even in a state that never officially endorsed slavery. Critics point their opposition in part to the fact that California is not a slavery state and say that current taxpayers should not be responsible for the damage associated with events that occurred hundreds of years ago.
The task force’s recommendations are just the beginning because ultimate authority rests with the state Assembly, Senate and governor.
“That’s the real obstacle,” said Sen. Steven Bradford, who sat on the panel. “How do you pay for hundreds of years of damage, even 150 years after slavery?”
Financial redress is only one part of the package being considered. Other proposals include paying inmates market value for their work, building free wellness centers and planting more trees in Black communities, banning cash bail and adopting a K-12 Black curriculum. to study.
Signed by Gov. Newsom passed the law in 2020 that created the reparations task force after the national protest over the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of the Minneapolis police. While federal initiatives stalled, cities, counties and other institutions stepped in.
An advisory committee in San Francisco made the recommendation $5 million payout, as well as guaranteed income of at least $97,000 and personal loan forgiveness for qualified individuals. Supervisors expressed general support, but stopped short of endorsing specific proposals. They will discuss the issue later this year.
The statewide estimate includes $246 billion to compensate eligible Black Californians whose neighborhoods were subjected to aggressive policing and prosecution of Blacks in the “war on drugs” from 1970 to 2020. That would translate to nearly $125,000 for each eligible person.
The numbers are approximate, based on modeling and population estimates. Economists also included $569 billion to offset the discriminatory practice of redlining housing loans. Such payment amounts to about $223,000 per eligible resident who lived in California from 1933 to 1977. The aggregate is considered the largest and assumes that all 2.5 million people who identify as Black in California would be eligible.
Redlining officially began in the 1930s when the federal government began backing up mortgages to support home purchases, but excluded predominantly Black neighborhoods by marking them red on internal maps. The racial gap in homeownership persists today, and Black-owned homes are often undervalued. Redlining officially ended in 1977, but the practice continues.
Cash compensation can be used by people who meet residency and other requirements. They must also be descendants of enslaved and freed Blacks in the US in the 19th century, leaving behind Black immigrants.
In their report, the consultants suggested the state task force “err on the side of generosity” and consider a down-payment with more money to come as more evidence becomes available.
“We need to make it clear to the public that a significant down payment is the beginning of a conversation about historical injustices, not the end of it,” they said.
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