Reparations activists celebrate 'important victory' after Newsom signs first-ever corporate slavery bill

California advocacy groups are celebrating a "big, important victory" in their push for state-level reparations after Gov.Gavin Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation bill requiring large corporations to investigate and disclose historical ties to chattel slavery.Kristin Nimmers, policy and campaign manager for the California Black Power Network (CBPN) and the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth, told Fox News Digital that Newsom’s signature on Assembly Bill 2599 — the Truth in Disclosure Act — marks a significant milestone for corporate accountability."There are connections right now from slavery to current wealth of individuals and current wealth of corporations whose foundation and who built — the start of their companies off of slavery and off of benefits gained from slavery," Nimmers said.CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS WANT CORPORATIONS TO DISCLOSE TIES TO SLAVERY DESPITE UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR REPARATIONSGovernor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2599, forcing large corporations in California to disclose historical ties to slavery in a first-in-the-nation law.

(Frazer Harrison/WireImage)Newsom signed AB 2599 into law on Sept.30, a move Nimmers called a "historic moment" that forces qualifying businesses operating in California to scour historical records and publicly disclose slavery-era transactions. California was the first state in the nation to establish a formal task force to study the legacy of slavery and recommend potential restitution measures."The California Reparations Task Force spent years documenting the state's role in perpetuating racial harm and outlining this path toward repair," Nimmers said.

"AB 2599 is really starting the work of identifying who really benefited from this racial harm and from slavery."Authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, D-Ladera Heights, the law applies to businesses with more than $100 million in annual worldwide gross receipts that existed — or had a predecessor entity in operation — on or before Dec.31, 1964.O...