After Newsom signs first corporate slavery reparations bill, advocates celebrate "important victory"

Governor Gavin Newsom signs AB 2599, forcing major California corporations to disclose their historical ties to slavery under state law.

Companies doing business in California must now investigate and disclose historical slavery ties

Black Power Network Director of Policy and Campaigns Christian Niemers announces a major step forward in the reparations movement.

California advocacy groups are celebrating a "huge and important victory" in their statewide reparations effort after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a nation-first bill requiring large corporations to investigate and disclose historical ties to domestic slavery.

"There are now connections from slavery to the current wealth of individuals and the current wealth of companies that were founded and who built them — their companies started in slavery and the benefits derived from slavery," Niemers said.

California lawmakers want companies to disclose ties to slavery despite an uncertain future for reparations.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2599 into law, forcing large corporations in California to disclose their historic ties to slavery into First Nations law. (Fraser Harrison/WireImage)

Newsom signed AB 2599 on Sept. 30, a measure Nimmers calls a "historic moment" that would require eligible businesses operating in California to review historical records and publicly disclose slavery-era transactions.

California was the first state in the country to establish a formal task force to study the legacy of slavery and recommend potential restitution measures.

California's reparations task force has spent years documenting the state's role in perpetuating that racial trauma and charting a path toward recovery, Kornimers said.

The law, authored by Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Ladera Heights, applies to businesses with more than $100 million in annual gross receipts worldwide that were in existence on or before Dec. 31, 1964 — or a prior entity was in operation.

Once funded by the state legislature, covered companies will be required to submit sworn affidavits under penalty of perjury to the California Department of Civil Rights.

These disclosures must describe any historical involvement in the purchase or sale of enslaved people, the use of enslaved people as collateral for loans, slave insurance policies, and other financial transactions. Covered entities have until January 15, 2029 to submit their initial files.

As California county officials push for compensation for local blacks, cash payments are not out of the question

The progressive governor's signing of AB 2599 comes despite his cautious stance on broader and more costly compensation plans.

Newsom has also consistently resisted direct cash payments, which the state task force recommends could cost millions of dollars per eligible recipient. He previously rejected a broader set of cash-focused reparations measures sponsored by the California Legislative Black Caucus.

However, Newsom approved state funding for California universities to research and develop verification methods for children of enslaved Americans to determine potential eligibility for future in-kind benefits.

The redress activist does not expect compensation from New York authorities because action has been delayed for years

Despite those legislative setbacks, Niemers is optimistic about the future of reparations in the Golden State, noting that CBPN plans to use AB 2599 as a move to turn the task force's broader recommendations into law.

"This will help us move the task force's work from recommendations to implementation," Nimmers said. "This is a really big and important victory for our alliance and for our work with the members of the Compensation Task Force, but it's also just one step in a much bigger movement and effort that we're trying to be a part of."

The California Black Power Network is a national coalition of 48 Black-led and serving organizations operating in 14 California counties. CBPN was founded by bringing together grassroots organizations focused on housing, education, and criminal justice reform to fight systemic racism through policy advocacy and community organizing.

The main axis of the mission of the justice network is compensatory. CBPN defines today's economic inequalities—including educational gaps, wealth inequality, and systemic injustice—as direct consequences of the historical traumas of slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow practices.

During the multi-year tenure of the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans (established under AB 3121), CBPN served as the state's official community anchor. The coalition facilitated grassroots civic engagement across California and held hearings to gather public testimony that directly informed the task force's 1,100-page final report, due in 2023.

With AB 2599 in hand, CBPN is focused on expanding its grassroots base to push for full implementation.

California county approves restoration plan as neighboring school district seeks "black prosperity"

"AB 2599 truly represents a historic step toward corporate transparency and accountability," Niemers said.

We know that for generations, corporations and financial institutions have really profited from the slavery and exploitation of black people. AB 2599 begins to establish a process to qualify businesses in California to actually investigate and disclose any historical ties to slavery. The truth," he added.

"When we're thinking about what a fix looks like, it's important to tie it back to where it's at so we can address those core issues," he said.

Elsewhere in the country, local compensation programs have had mixed success.

Black residents in Evanston, Illinois, received $25,000 in housing grants as part of a municipal program aimed at correcting discrimination in historic housing. Similar local and municipal initiatives seeking to provide direct compensation or economic assistance have been discussed across the country.

Joshua focuses on cultural trends, education and public policy. He has extensively covered compensation developments throughout the United States, Department of Education and immigration issues.

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