NY officials, citing shifting politics, put off reparations study another 2 years

New York state officials agreed to postpone a long-awaited reparations report tied to slavery until 2029. The delay was embedded in the latest state budget at the request of the state’s Reparations Commission, which studies harms connected to enslavement. The postponement was linked to political headwinds, including concerns about erosion of Black power in the South and federal attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The commission has collected 200 hours of testimony and plans additional public hearings across the state, including events in Hempstead and Harlem. The commission’s reporting timeline has already shifted from an initial requirement last summer to 2027 and now to 2029, following momentum after the 2020 killing of George Floyd.

"New York state officials, bowing to political headwinds, have agreed to push back a long-awaited report on reparations for slavery to 2029, officials said. Assemblymember Michaelle A. Solages, chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, told Gothamist the two-year delay, which was embedded in the latest state budget, came at the request of the state's Reparations Commission, charged with studying the harm tied to enslavement."

"Solages, a Nassau County Democrat, said the "erosion of Black power in the South" as well as the Trump administration's attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives necessitated a slower, more considered approach to the commission's work. "Now  it's more important than ever for us to have a report that is accurate and up to date, to look at the systematic disenfranchisement of not only Black individuals but those who have been marginalized for so long," Solages said."

"Aides to Gov. Kathy Hochul referred questions to the commission, formally known as the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies. Seanelle Hawkins, chair of the commission, did not address the extension in a statement, but said the state panel had collected 200 hours of testimony to date and would continue to host public hearings across the state, including a May 23 hearing in Hempstead and a May 30 hearing in Harlem. "We encourage all New Yorkers to share their voice and engage the commission, in-person or virtually," Hawkins said."

"The commission was initially required to submit a report last summer, but that deadline was pushed back to 2027, and now to 2029, nearly four years after its initial deadline. The inquiry gained momentum amid the racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis in 2020. Hochul signed a bill establishing the commission in 2023. It was designated "to examine the institution of slavery, subsequently de jure and de facto racial and e"

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