Newsom Cites Reparations Bill As ‘Unimplementable,’ Issues Veto

By Robert J. Hansen | OBSERVER Staff WriterGov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 25 vetoed a reparations bill that would have established a process for compensating individuals whose property was taken through racially motivated eminent domain.“This bill assigns responsibilities to a nonexistent state agency, making it unimplementable,” Newsom wrote in his veto statement.Senate Bill 1050, authored by Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), required the creation of a Freedmen Affairs Bureau for implementation – a separate bill, SB 1403, was not brought to a vote by the end of the legislative session.Bradford expressed surprise at the governor’s veto, noting, “We demonstrated that meaningful action can be taken without a specific agency, as seen with the Bruce’s Beach legislation.”He argued that SB 1050 could have been effective even without the Freedmen Affairs Bureau, referencing his success with the Bruce’s Beach case in Los Angeles. The Bruce family got back their land after the city had managed it for more than a century, having seized it through eminent domain in 1912. The land was returned to the family following a directive from another state bill that allowed the Los Angeles County Supervisors to transfer the land directly to the family.“And we accomplished this without an...