California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation creating a new state agency to oversee programs for descendants of enslaved Americans, advancing his long-running push for reparations policies amid ongoing fiscal and political challenges.
The measure, Senate Bill 518, establishes the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery within the California Civil Rights Department. The agency will be led by a deputy director appointed by the governor and divided into three divisions: Genealogy, Education and Outreach, and Legal Affairs.
Its responsibilities include verifying eligibility based on lineage, managing public education efforts about historical discrimination, and ensuring legal compliance as reparations initiatives expand.
The bureau’s implementation will depend on future legislative appropriations, though the law permits it to receive funding from federal, state, and private sources. It also includes privacy protections for genetic and personal data collected through the program, restricting public access to that information.
