California lawmakers say reparations bills, which exclude widespread payments, are a starting point

Black lawmakers in California on Wednesday introduced a package of reparations legislation, calling it a starting point to atone for the state’s legacy of discrimination. The California Legislative Black Caucus introduced the package of more than a dozen proposals months after a first-in-the-nation reparations task force sent a report, two years in the making, to lawmakers recommending how the state should apologize and offer redress to Black Californians. The package doesn’t include widespread direct cash payments to Black families. “We are witnessing the effects of the longstanding institution of slavery and how that impacts our communities,” Democratic Assemblymember Mike Gipson said at a press conference at the state Capitol. The proposals must now garner political support as the state faces a massive budget deficit. Reparations advocates were quick to criticize the package’s exclusion of widespread compensation. Other critics said many of the proposals fall outside of the scope of reparations, and some say they would be too costly to implement. Here are some of the ideas: A bill by Sen. Steven Bradford, a Los Angeles-area Democrat who was a task force member, would create an agency known as the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency to administer reparations programs and help...