California set to force big companies to disclose historic links to slavery

California is set to force big companies to disclose their historic links to slavery as a new measure passed the state legislature this week.

The measure is now headed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk and he has until September 30 to sign or veto it.

The bill is facing pushback from insurance companies, which argue it largely repeats an earlier California law requiring insurers to disclose past policies issued to slaveholders that covered the death or injury of enslaved people.

New York Life Insurance Company, Aetna Life Insurance Company and American International Group, known as AIG, were among the companies that disclosed ties to enslaved people and slaveholders.

Some reparations advocates have viewed the measure as a significant step forward, while others have questioned how much of an impact it would actually have.

The bill, known as Assembly Bill 2599, would require companies with more than $100 million in annual worldwide sales to search their records for evidence that they, their predecessors or subsidiaries bought or sold enslaved people or provided financial support for those transactions, including through insurance or loans.

The measure would only take effect if the Legislature sets aside funding for it, a requirement added through late amendments.

Once funding is allocated, the California Civil Rights Department would be required to create a digital platform for the disclosures.

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, D-Jefferson Park, believes there won’t be an issue building the platform.

“This is not big dollars,” he said, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune. “And it’s not something that’s not going to happen.”

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