California passes corporate slavery disclosure law, reparations advocates push for cash payments
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Truth in Disclosure Act, requiring large companies to reveal ties to slavery, while activists say financial reparations must go beyond a single check.
Governor Gavin Newsom enacted Assembly Bill 2599, the Truth in Disclosure Act, mandating that qualifying corporations disclose any historic financial links to slavery. Policy manager Kristin Nimmers of the California Black Power Network and the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth says that merely publishing this information falls short of true reparations, insisting on cash payments for descendants of enslaved people and others harmed by systemic discrimination.
She highlights that Black Americans have faced denied wages, property, capital, and education for generations, making a single check insufficient. While Newsom has historically opposed costly direct payouts, activists are using the bill’s passage to press for broader reforms recommended by the California Reparations Task Force. The movement also faces internal debate, with groups like the U.S. Freedmen Project arguing for lineage-only eligibility, whereas Nimmers advocates a broader harm-based inclusion. Meanwhile, local efforts such as Evanston, Illinois’s housing grant program illustrate the growing push for tangible reparative measures.
Why it matters
The law forces corporate transparency on slavery ties, while the push for cash reparations raises national debate on how to address historic racial harms.
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