February 15, 2024
Golden State Republican Women
Janet Price, President
Submitted by the GSRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Valerie Evans, Lou Ann Flaherty and Elaine Freeman,
WHAT’S THE LATEST ON THE REPARATION TASK FORCE?
The Governor created a Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans with a special consideration for African Americans who are Descendants of persons enslaved in the United States. The Task Force, among other things, was to identify, compile, and synthesize the relevant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery that existed within the United States and the colonies and to recommend the form of compensation that should be awarded.
SB 490, as amended, Bradford. Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. California American Freedmen Affairs Agency.
This bill would establish the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency in state government under the control of the director, who would be appointed by the Governor. The bill requires the agency to implement the recommendations of the Task Force, as approved by the Legislature and the governor. To accomplish this goal, the bill will require the agency to be comprised of specified offices, including a genealogy office and an office of strategic communications and media affairs that would be responsible for specified duties related to reparations and claims.
The bill also requires the agency to oversee and monitor existing state agencies and departments tasked with engaging in direct implementation of the policies that fall within the scope of the existing state agencies and departments’ authority. In this regard, the bill establishes specifies offices within the agency to provide prescribed oversight of existing state agencies and departments, such as a Social Services and Family Affairs Office to provide oversight of existing state agencies efforts to identify and mitigate the ways that current and previous policies have damaged and destabilized descendant families.
In other words, this is a watchdog group that will police agencies to make sure there is no discrimination currently or in the past. A new agency to monitor other agencies. There is no cost associated with the proposed bill.
Passed the Senate on 05/20/2023 and in the Assembly committee since 08/22/2023.
AB 2064, as introduced, Jones-Sawyer. Racial equity: violence prevention.
Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2030, the Racial Equity Commission within the Office of Planning and Research and requires the commission to develop resources, best practices, and tools for advancing racial equity by, among other things, developing a statewide Racial Equity Framework that includes methodologies and tools that can be employed to advance racial equity and address structural racism in California.
This bill would make related findings and declarations. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to subsequently amend this bill to include provisions that would establish and fund a grant program to support community-driven solutions to decrease community violence at the family, school, and neighborhood levels in African American communities.
May be heard in committee March 3.
CLIMATE CHANGE
AB 285, approved by Governor Newsom 10/8/23, amends existing law on pupil instruction to require the science area of study to include an emphasis on the causes and effects of climate change and methods to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The bill would require that appropriate coursework including this material be offered to pupils, grades 1-12, as soon as possible, commencing no later than the 2024–25 school year.
SB 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of statewide greenhouse gas emissions and to monitor and enforce compliance with the act. The act requires the state board to make available, and update at least annually, on its internet website the emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants, and toxic air contaminants for each facility that reports to the state board, as provided.
This bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2025, to develop and adopt regulations requiring specified partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, and other business entities with total annual revenues in excess of $1,000,000,000 and that do business in California, defined as “reporting entities,” to publicly disclose to the emissions reporting organization, as defined, and obtain an assurance engagement on, starting in 2026 on a date to be determined by the state board, and annually thereafter, their scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, as defined, and, starting in 2027 and annually thereafter, their scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, as defined, from the reporting entity’s prior fiscal year, as provided.
2023-10-07 – Approved by the Governor and Chaptered by Secretary of State
SB 261, Stern. Greenhouse gases: climate-related financial risk.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of statewide greenhouse gas emissions and to monitor and enforce compliance with the act. The act requires the state board to make available, and update at least annually, on its internet website the emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants, and toxic air contaminants for each facility that reports to the state board, as provided.
This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2026, and biennially thereafter, a covered entity, as defined, to prepare a climate-related financial risk report disclosing the entity’s climate-related financial risk and measures adopted to reduce and adapt to climate-related financial risk. The bill would require the covered entity to make a copy of the report available to the public on its own internet website.
Under this pair of California laws signed by Governor Newsom on October 7, 2023, many large U.S. companies will be required to make broad-based climate-related disclosures starting as early as 2026. These laws will have a profound impact on companies doing business in California. These laws will have profound consequences, extending well beyond the border of California. Any company that “does business” in California and has revenues above the relevant threshold is subject to the laws’ requirements, regardless of where its operations are located (Harvard Law Forum on Corporate Governance).
Legislative Portal links – Express your support or opposition to a bill or directly to the Legislative committee currently reviewing it (as an individual, not as a member of RW or GSRW) – click here, or the bill’s author – click here, enter your bill # and look for tab at top of the bill page labeled “Comments to Author”.
