Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes 5 bills for 'reparative justice' for Black Californians

Kate Wolffe, The Sacramento Bee on Oct 13, 2025

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Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday night vetoed several bills that were part of the Legislative Black Caucus’ ‘Road to Repair’ priority package, intended to address a legacy of injustice toward Black Californians. Of the caucus’ 15 bills, only ten made it to the governor’s desk, and he vetoed more than half of them.

The governor vetoed bills that would have given descendants of slaves more opportunity for university admission, home-buying and professional licenses, and also shot down proposals to expand Diversity Equity and Inclusion strategic planning and help people regain property after racially-motivated eminent domain.

Newsom attributed several of the vetoes to a lack of state funds or capability. Others he said were unnecessary or would diminish the utility of an existing program.

Earlier this month, Newsom signed SB 518, from state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, D-San Diego, which will create the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery, a state agency “responsible for verifying eligibility, safeguarding privacy, educating the public, and coordinating future reparative justice initiatives.”

On Monday night, he also signed three bills that were part of the package: one that would authorize the California State University to conduct a $6 million study to explore how to determine whether or not someone is the descendant of slaves, another that would expand how much pay equity data private employers need to report to the state’s Civil Rights Department, and a third requiring the CRD to better monitor and publish data about the complaints they receive.

Advocates expressed frustration Monday night about the bills that were denied by the governor.

“While we acknowledge the signing of SB 518 as a meaningful step, the Governor’s selective support undermines the very vision of comprehensive reparations that began with AB 3121,” said Juliana Williams, a spokesperson for the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth, referencing the bill that required the state to make a task force to study reparations.

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