New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill Tuesday to form a reparations commission to study the Empire State’s history of slavery and racism.
The New York Times reports the bill will establish the United States’ third statewide task force to study the history of slavery, which was outlawed in New York in 1827, and its subsequent effects on housing discrimination, biased policing, income inequality, and mass incarceration of African Americans.
New York now joins California and Illinois as states undertaking studies to determine how slavery has affected residents and what kind of reparations would best help Black residents. It’s unclear what type of restitution — cash, property, or otherwise — the commission in New York will recommend for descendants of enslaved people, or even if it will make such a recommendation.
“I know the word ‘reparations’ brings up a lot of conflicting ideas for people,” Hochul said on Tuesday before signing the bill, according to the Times. “A lot of people instinctively dig in when they hear it, without really thinking about what it means or why we need to talk about it.
“Today, I challenge all New Yorkers to be the patriots and rebuke — and not excuse — our role in benefiting from the institution of slavery.”
Hochul and the state legislature will create a nine-member task force that will write and produce a non-binding report with recommendations for correcting centuries of discrimination and racism. State lawmakers will then have the ability to pass the recommendations.
California‘s reparations task force approved its report earlier this year, which recommended a statewide reparations program and a formal apology to its Black residents. However the state’s plans, which include direct payments to Black residents, would cost California billions of dollars at a time when it has a $68 billion revenue shortfall.
In 2021, the city of Evanston, Illinois, about 35 miles north of Chicago, became the first U.S. city to issue reparations in the form of housing grants totaling up to $25,000. The city has given out about $1 million in grants so far.
New York currently has its own budgetary concerns. During the pandemic, the state received a significant amount of help from the federal government. Those funds have since dried up, and New York is now projecting a $4.3 billion budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year, and greater deficits in the years ahead.
Budget cuts are likely on the horizon, which has renewed calls from the state’s progressive wing to raise taxes on the rich to bridge the budget gaps, which Hochul opposes.
Rev. Al Sharpton thanked Hochul for having the “audacity and courage” to back the proposal, calling the signing “the beginning of a process to repair damage done.”
“You cannot heal unless you deal with the wounds,” Sharpton said in a statement. “And this bill will put a commission together to heal the wounds.”
With the bill signed, Hochul and the leaders of the Senate and assembly will each appoint three members to the task force.
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