New York lawmakers pass bill that considers reparations for slavery
The bill passed through the Assembly Chamber in Albany after three hours of debate on Thursday, swiftly followed by the Senate a matter of hours later.
It now makes its way to the desk of New York Governor Kathy Hochul for her signature.
New York is following the example of California, which became the first state to form a reparations task force in 2020.
That group recommended that California issue a formal apology for the lasting legacy of racism and discriminatory policies – from over-policing to mass incarceration and redlining – and the creation of an agency to provide a wide range of services for Black residents.
It stopped short of recommending the precise value of reparations payments that might be made to citizens, however, although it did hear analysis from economists who suggested that the state’s Black residents could be owed as much as $800bn in compensation, a preliminary estimate more than 2.5 times larger than California’s annual budget of $300bn.
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