Updated on August 15, 2025.
Dear ARRT Friends and Allies,
Thank you for your continued support of California’s fight for reparations. Your commitment to truth, justice, and repair is why this movement is gaining momentum.
We urgently need your help once again. Critical bills advancing reparations will be heard in the Senate and Assembly Appropriations committees this month. Demonstrating community support will help push these bills across the finish line. We’re almost there!
Thank you for your letters supporting Senate Bills 437 and 518, which will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on August 18.
- Submit letters of support by August 18, 9:00 a.m. for Assembly Bill 57 and by August 22 for Assembly Bill 62 (see descriptions below). AB 57 will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 18 and AB 62 will be heard by the same committee on August 25.. Support letter templates are below and need to be submitted through a web portal (instructions).
- AB 57 [Senate Appropriations Support Letter Template] – submit by Aug. 18 at 9 a.m.
- AB 62 [Senate Appropriations Support Letter Template] – submit by Aug. 22
- Sign up your organization or group to visit the district offices of key Senators and Assemblymembers. We held a training on August 8 for ARRT partners/allies on how to do the in-person visit, together with a script and other tools. Request a recording of the training session. Here is the Resource Guide and zoom link to join the training.
Short descriptions of the bills:
- AB 57 (McKinnor) – This bill requires the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) to set aside 10 percent of the funds under the California Dream for All Program for applicants who are descended from formerly enslaved persons.
- AB 62 (McKinnor) – This bill establishes a procedure by which a dispossessed owner, as defined, of property that was taken as a result of racially motivated eminent domain can apply for and receive compensation.
- SB 437 (Weber-Pierson) – This bill authorizes up to $6 million dollars of an appropriation provided in the Budget Act of 2024 to fund the California State University (CSU) to conduct research in furtherance of the recommendations of the California Reparations Task Force to determine options for how to confirm an individual’s descendant status and verification of eligibility for reparative claims.
- SB 518 (Weber-Pierson)- This bill establishes the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery to address the harms described in and advise on reparative remedies guided by the final report of the California Reparations Task Force.
Together, we can move from recommendations to repair. Thank you again for your partnership and your commitment to building brighter Black futures.
If you have questions, please use this form.
In solidarity,
ARRT
The Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation & Truth
