The California reparations task force has been looking at the potential to issue reparations to minority residents in the Golden State.
Fox News reports that one of the task force members has brushed aside the proposals total cost as its least important aspect, even though the estimated cost of the recommended reforms is $800 billion.
We want to make sure that this is presented out in a way that does not reinforce the preoccupation with a dollar figure, which is the least important piece of this, said Cheryl Grills, a clinical psychologist, and member of the California Reparations Task Force, while speaking with a publication called CalMatters.
Grills continued by saying: Its important, and But its the least important in terms of being able to get to a point in our countrys history and in Californias history where we recognize that the harm cuts across multiple areas and domains and that the repair needs to align with that.
Economists made a preliminary estimate of the cost of the proposals at $800 billion last month. The task force is made up of economists and policy experts as well. They admit that the $800 billion price tag doesnt even cover all the potential extras that could be tacked on to this legislation.
For reference, Californias total annual budget sits at $300 billion. Therefore, this proposal would equal nearly 3 years' worth of Californias budget for the entire state.
Fox News reports the task force had previously been asked to look at a proposal to issue $360,000 in reparations for every qualifying Black resident in California. There are roughly 1.8 million Black residents in California, so that would come out to a program that costs $640 billion.
It is unknown how California could come up with the money necessary to cover costs like this.
Governor Newsom recently announced that the Golden State already has a $22.5 billion hole in its annual budget. However, Grills has continued to complain that the media is too focused on the dollar amount of the proposal instead of the positive impacts it could have.
She said: Its really unfortunate. Im actually sad to see that our news media is not able to nuance better, and Its almost like, Whats going to be sensational as opposed to whats important.
Regardless, the state would need to devise a way to pay for all of this, and there are no clear answers about how that would happen.
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