Newsom Vetoes Bill to Help Black Families Reclaim Unjustly Taken Land in California: ‘Impossible to Implement’

California governor Gavin Newsom Reuters / LUCY NICHOLSON California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have helped Black families be compensated for land unjustly taken from them by the government in the past. Concretely, the bill would have created a process for potential beneficiaries to file the claims if they believed the government seized their property through eminent domain, and did so for discriminatory reasons and without providing fair compensation. When explaining the reasoning behind the veto, Newsom made reference to the fact that the initiative could not be implemented, as it would have needed a complementary bill that was earlier blocked by state lawmakers. The initiative contemplated the creation of a reparations agency that would have reviewed the petitions. However, it being blocked means it was never created. “I thank the author for his commitment to redressing past racial injustices,” Newsom said in a statement. “However, this bill tasks a nonexistent state agency to carry out its various provisions and requirements, making it impossible to implement.” The veto comes amid broader efforts by the Black Caucus to pass a package of reparations-related bills this year. Among those bills are measures requiring the state to formally apologize for...