Newsom Vetoes Eminent Domain Reparations Bill

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Sept. 25 that would have created a process for Californians to apply for compensation or the return of property that was taken from a former owner or their family member through actions that were racially motivated.
The governor highlighted the lack of a state agency to follow through on the bill’s mandates.
Critics said they were “deeply disappointed” with the veto and said the bill was an important first step toward compensating victims of injustice.
“The families affected by these actions deserve restitution, and the failure to pass this bill is an injustice in itself,” the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California—a nonprofit seeking to secure reparations for descendants of slaves—said in a Sept. 26 X post.
Bradford’s office told The Epoch Times on the same day that the senator, who is the vice chair of the caucus, did not want the bills to be pulled.
The caucus promised to reintroduce a similar bill in 2025.
SB 1050, the eminent domain bill vetoed by the governor, passed the legislature Aug. 28 on a 72–0 vote in the Assembly and 38–0 in the Senate.
No groups were listed as opposing the bill in legislative analyses, while dozens of organizations—including the American Civil Liberties Union California Action, the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative, and the Greater Sacramento Urban League—local governments—including the City of Chula Vista, and the board of supervisors from Los Angeles and San Diego Counties, among others—and individuals offered support.
“While we cannot change the past, we can act now in the present to right historic wrongs by identifying and returning land that was unjustly taken,” the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said in a legislative analysis. “It is essential to ensure property owners’ rights and public welfare by providing fair compensation for any private land or property seizure under the authority of eminent domain.”
If the bill had become law, the Assembly Appropriations Committee calculated cost pressures in the low millions of dollars annually to fund the agency responsible for processing and investigating claims, with other costs to state and local funds potentially reaching hundreds of millions of dollars, depending on how many claims were made and the total compensation amounts.
The Epoch Times reached out to Bradford and Newsom for comment but did not hear back before publication.