California continues to make progress on reparations, becoming the first state in the nation to require corporations to declare under oath whether they or their predecessors profited from slavery.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2599, The Truth in Disclosure Act authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan and a top priority for the California Legislative Black Caucus.

The Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (ARRT) expressed its appreciation to Gov. Newsom for signing the bill.

Corporations doing business in California with annual revenue of $100 million in gross receipts or more will now be required by law to submit sworn affidavits — subject to perjury penalties — disclosing whether they or predecessor entities engaged in or profited from slavery-era transactions, with all filings posted to a publicly searchable state database.

The new law builds on California’s existing disclosure framework. California has led the country on climate, supply chain, and pay transparency, and expands existing corporate disclosure laws requiring corporations doing business in California to engage in ethical business practices. No other state requires corporations to account for their historical role in the slave economy. The bill’s public database will give journalists, researchers, and reparations advocates a tool to trace historical profits to present-day corporate wealth.

With Governor Newsom’s signature, AB 2599 is the 15th reparations bill passed since the 2023 issuance of the California Reparations Task Force report and yet another step forward in the continued momentum of implementing those recommendations.

In 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 437 (Weber-Pierson), requiring the California State University to explore options to determine how to confirm an individual’s status as a descendant, and SB 518 (Weber‑Pierson), creating the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery, housed within the Civil Rights Department.

In 2024, Gov. Newsom signed several reparations bills, including AB 3089, a formal apology by the State of California for its role in perpetuating slavery and its ongoing legacy of systemic racism.

This historic journey started with Gov. Newsom’s signing of AB 3121 into law on Sept. 30, 2020, to create the first-in-the-nation California Reparations Task Force. After two years of research and 30 public hearings, the task force in 2023 delivered a 1,100-page book of truth that documents past and continuing harm of anti-Black discrimination in every facet of American life and across every sector of California civil society, outlining 115 comprehensive policies for repairing the harm.

The Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (ARRT) is a multiracial, multisector coalition advancing truth-telling, accountability, and public education related to the enduring impacts of slavery and systemic harm in California. Learn more at alliancefor.org.