Legal Insurrection recently reported that the California Reparations Task Force formally recommended that the state offer payments of up to $1.2 million to every qualifying Black resident.
Apparently, the thought of writing checks that exceed the California budget was more than super-progressive Governor Gavin Newsom could take. He has declined to endorse the reparations panel’s payment plans.
“The Reparations Task Force’s independent findings and recommendations are a milestone in our bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing. This has been an important process, and we should continue to work as a nation to reconcile our original sin of slavery and understand how that history has shaped our country,” Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital.While the Democratic governor applauded the task force’s work, he declined to endorse any specific recommendations, though he pledged to continue to “advance systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians.”
Newsom also asserted that the state has already addressed many of the panel’s recommendations.
“Dealing with that legacy is about much more than cash payments,” Newsom said in the statement. “This work must continue. Following the Task Force’s submission of its final report this summer, I look forward to a continued partnership with the Legislature to advance systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians.””I think he’s setting a realistic expectation there probably won’t be check payments in the amount we’ve bannered around,” said State Senator Steven Bradford, who is also a member of the task force. “I’ve tried to temper people’s expectations that it might not be a check”Bradford noted reparations payments are more likely to come in the form of education, housing, land, and access to other resources that have been out of reach for a group of people that have been harmed by the societal impacts of slavery.”There’s a lot of stuff we can do, and I just want people to be open and accepting to the fact that reparations could take many forms,” Bradford said.
This attitude from Newsom may seem shocking. However, there are two reasons the normally super-woke governor is cool with writing checks. To begin with, with Big Tech banking troubles and residents fleeing the state (along with their businesses), the Golden State is a bit cash-strapped.
Newsom in January released a $297 billion spending plan for 2023-24 that projected a $22.5 billion deficit, a sharp swing away from last year’s $100 billion surplus. A week later, the Legislative Analyst’s Office warned of “a good chance” that California revenues would come in lower than the governor forecast and that additional cuts would be needed to fill the gap.Since then, the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates and moved up the expected date that the U.S. will reach its debt limit. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its key interest rate to the highest level in 16 years.California also extended its tax filing deadline to Oct. 16 to align with the Biden Administration and ease burdens on Californians hit by major winter storms.Those factors all make it more difficult for California’s budget officials to accurately predict the state’s fiscal future.
The second reason is purely political. Newsom is likely building up his “middle of the road” bona fides, perhaps anticipating wading into the 2024 presidential race (depending on what happens to the current occupant of the Oval Office).
Reconfiguring himself as the champion of all Americans is going to be hard to do if this recent poll of California voters is any indication.
Seven out of 10 said they would not like to see him make a bid for the White House in the next election, per a new Quinnipiac University poll of registered California voters. Even a majority of Democrats (54 percent) still say he shouldn’t run next year.“A resounding thumbs down from the home team as California voters tell the governor: if you have designs on the big job beyond Sacramento, we’re not on board,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.
The smooth move is a classic Newsom maneuver. However, many of us will not let Newsom forget that he was the one who created the reparations panel in the first place.
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