California Governor Gavin Newsom declined to support efforts for the Golden State to issue reparations to black residents over historical injustices.
Newsom followed up his statement saying the legacy of slavery and historical injustices to black Americans was "about much more than cash payments."
Proposed cash payments in the Golden State could reach upwards of $1.2 million for a single recipient of California's reparations effort.
"The Reparations Task Force’s independent findings and recommendations are a milestone in our bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing," the California Governor said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This has been an important process, and we should continue to work as a nation to reconcile our original sin of slavery and understand how that history has shaped our country."
"Dealing with that legacy is about much more than cash payments."
"Many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are critical action items we’ve already been hard at work addressing, [such as] breaking down barriers to vote, bolstering resources to address hate, enacting sweeping law enforcement and justice reforms to build trust and safety, strengthening economic mobility — all while investing billions to root out disparities and improve equity in housing, education, healthcare, and well beyond," Newsom said.
The California Governor said the state and task force's work must continue.
"Following the Task Force’s submission of its final report this summer, I look forward to a continued partnership with the Legislature to advance systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians."
In 2020, Newsom signed AB 3121 into law, creating a reparations task force for the Golden State consisting of nine people, five of whom were appointed by the Governor along with two appointed by the President pro Tempore of the Senate and the final two appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
The purpose of the Task Force's creation is to "study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans," and "recommend appropriate ways to educate the California public of the Task Force's findings."
The group was also assigned with recommending "appropriate remedies" following the Task Force's findings.
Based on California's Task Force's findings, the group recommended payments to African Americans in the state broken down by historical discrimination. Black Californians affected by redlining by banks would receive $3,366 per year if they lived as a resident in the Golden State between the early 1930s and the late 1970s, Fox News reported. Based on the guidelines, a single individual affected by redlining may receive up to $148,099 in payment.
Black Californians who resided in the state between 1970 and 2020 could receive $2,352 in compensation for over-policing and mass incarceration for each year lived in the state — totaling upwards of $115,260 in payment.
Black Californians qualifying for multiple reparation recommendations could receive a total payment of $1.2 million.
The Task Force's recommendations will be presented to the California State Legislature for approval before being sent to the Governor's desk.
"This has been a fool’s errand from the start," James Gallagher, California Assembly Republican Leader, previously told Fox News Digital. "Democrats have promised the world with this reparations task force, and now the massive taxpayer bill is coming due."
"Newsom has painted himself into a corner, and he’ll have to choose between signing off on a ridiculous policy that will bankrupt the state or admitting once and for all that this task force was nothing more than a political stunt."
