Gov. Gavin Newsom deals blow to reparations effort in California

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images (SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom dealt a blow to legislation linked to the state’s groundbreaking reparations efforts on Wednesday. He vetoed Senate Bill 1050, which would have restored property taken under racially-motivated uses of eminent domain to its original owners or provide another remedy, such as restitution or compensation. “I thank the author for his commitment to redressing past racial injustices,” Newsom said in a statement, referring to state Sen. Steven Bradford. “However, this bill tasks a nonexistent state agency to carry out its various provisions and requirements, making it impossible to implement.” The agency that would have carried out the policy would have been created if Senate Bill 1403 passed the legislature. The bill, also introduced by Bradford, was intended to create an agency to carry out the recommendations of the state’s groundbreaking first-in-the-nation Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. It failed following last-minute changes from the Newsom administration that instead aimed to to support further research on reparations in the state instead of creating the agency to carry out reparations recommendations from the state task force, according to local news outlet CalMatters. Newsom signed Assembly Bill 3131, which...