West
California reparations payouts on hold, but state moves toward apology for slavery
The California Senate held up plans to dole out reparations payouts to its citizens, but the Assembly voted to formally apologize for the state’s role in slavery.
The California Assembly passed a bill Thursday that will accept responsibility for “all of the harms and atrocities committed by the state” and will head to the Senate, the Los Angeles Times reported. AB 3089 was passed unanimously among Democrats, but some Republicans abstained from voting.
“It is undeniable that our systems of government have been complicit in the oppression of African Americans. … California’s history is tarnished by the subjugation of Black people,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said in support of the bill, the LA Times reported. “It is a wound that still needs to heal.”
REPARATIONS MAKE INCREASINGLY LESS SENSE AS AMERICA GROWS MORE DIVERSE, THINK TANK REPORT ARGUES
A large crowd of protesters wearing masks carry signs that say, “Reparations Now” as they walk through neighborhoods at the Black Lives Matter protest in Bayside, Queens. (Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images)
“Not only is the apology letter important … it’s whether or not we go ahead and fulfill the dream of what my ancestors wanted, which is to fully make us part of the American dream,” the author of the bill, California Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, said on the assembly floor, the LA Times reported.
California introduced a series of reparations bills in January that would give property tax and cash payouts to the descendants of slaves, but that plan was put on hold Thursday during the Senate fiscal process, with legislators citing the state’s massive budget deficit, the LA Times reported.
SAN FRAN REPARATIONS EFFORT STALLING DUE TO MONEY, LEGAL ISSUES, EXPERTS GRILL CITY FOR APOLOGY: ‘NOT ENOUGH’
“The next couple of years will be difficult for the legislative and budget processes,” said State Sen. Anna Caballero, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Finding balance will be critical to ensure that we can continue to make our government work efficiently and prudently.”
Long-time Los Angeles resident, Walter Foster, 80, holds up a sign as the Reparations Task Force meets to hear public input on reparations at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2022. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The controversial cash compensation proposal made headlines last year after the state’s reparations task force, aimed at informing lawmakers on how to best implement reparations, recommended payments given to Black residents based on the type of historical discrimination their family faced.
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But that did not make it into the proposed bill, which made no mention of providing cash payment to descendants of slaves and others historically discriminated against by the government.
BLACK AMERICANS ARE NOT ‘ENTHUSIASTIC’ ABOUT REPARATIONS, DON’T BELIEVE IT’S POLITICALLY FEASIBLE: REPORT
“We know we build generational wealth through home ownership, and African Americans have been denied home ownership since the Emancipation Proclamation. Their freedom, it was about land,” said Democratic state Sen. Steven Bradford, who authored two reparations bills that were held back.
Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher called slavery “a terrible stain on our history” but didn’t support parts of the bill that said the state is still denying Black residents some rights and that police shootings are “state-sanctioned violence,” the LA Times reported.
“We have made tremendous progress toward a more equal society,” Gallagher said.
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Oil pipelines, it turns out, are one of the few things that can still get Montanans riled up. And now, here we go again.
Donald Trump has finalized the approval of one of the largest cross-state pipelines in U.S. history, a nearly three-foot wide pipeline that will carry oil from Canada through Montana to Wyoming when built out. It means if this thing goes ahead, you are looking at around 550,000 barrels a day moving through the region. That is no small enterprise either, and it has already placed Montana squarely in the middle of a well-worn debate.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A Debate Montana Knows All Too Well
If all of this is ringing any bells for you, you are not wrong. Montana has been here before when it comes to pipeline debates, and just like last time, people are already divided. On one side, you have folks looking at this and thinking jobs, energy independence, and perhaps, bringing some much-needed relief to the gas pump. Because in all honesty, fuel has been rough lately. Every single fill-up makes you feel like you are buying concert tickets, not gas. For a lot of people, it sounds like progress.
Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images
Not Everyone Is Celebrating
Then there is the other camp, and they are hardly celebrating. Once again, environmental concerns are front and center. Spills, land impact, long-term risk. Everything that tends to get brushed aside until something actually breaks. Montana is not exactly short on people who care about the land. That part is not political. That is just reality out here. So when a pipeline cuts across the state, it quickly feels like poking a hornet’s nest.
Joe Raedle/Newsmakers
So Where Does This Go From Here
So where does that leave things? That is the question right now. Is this a move toward cheaper energy and greater stability, or is it another gamble with long-term consequences? The truth is, it is probably both. That said, construction crews are not rolling in tomorrow. The project still has hurdles to clear and could run into legal challenges. But the conversation is already here, and it is not going anywhere. And if history is any guide, Montana is going to have plenty to say about it.
Counties with the highest cancer rates in Montana
Gallery Credit: Stacker
An early morning earthquake in Nevada on Friday was felt as far west as the Sacramento Valley.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake struck around 1:17 a.m. about 50 miles east of Carson City. Shaking was reported across the Reno, Carson City and South Lake Tahoe areas.
People also reported feeling shaking along the Sierra Nevada foothills and into the valley, including in Roseville and Sacramento.
No damage has been reported.
The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.2. A magnitude 4.3 foreshock appears to have struck about two minutes before the main quake. Several aftershocks have followed, none larger than magnitude 2.7.
Nevada also saw a magnitude 5.7 earthquake centered in the same general area on April 13. Like Friday’s quake, that earthquake was felt in the Sacramento area.
New Mexico
Meta threatens to pull Facebook and Instagram from New Mexico over child safety trial requirements
The Lanier Law Firm lead attorney Mark Lanier joins Varney & Co. to discuss the social media addiction trial verdict against Meta and Google, comparing it to tobacco litigation.
Tech giant Meta is threatening to cut off access to its social media platforms in New Mexico as a response to the state’s legal effort to compel changes to child safety protocols on the platform.
Meta and the state of New Mexico are expected to proceed to the second stage of their trial next week after a jury recently issued a $375 million award to the state after finding that the company misled consumers about the safety of its platforms and protections for children against sexual predators.
The next phase of the trial will concern what actions the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp must take to address those issues.
Among the remedies New Mexico is seeking is to impose a requirement that Meta meet a 99% accuracy threshold in verifying that children on its platform are at least 13 years old. Meta has pushed back on that requirement, arguing in a court filing that it’s unfeasible and would require it to “comply with impossible obligations.”
META VOWS APPEAL OF ‘LANDMARK’ SOCIAL MEDIA VERDICTS, WARNS OF FREE SPEECH EROSION
Meta is warning that it may be forced to pull its apps from New Mexico if the state prevails in requiring the social media giant to implement certain safeguards. (Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Meta’s legal team said in a filing that New Mexico’s “requests for relief are so broad and so burdensome, that if implemented it might force Meta to withdraw its apps entirely from the State of New Mexico as an alternative way of complying with the injunction.”
“It does not make economic or engineering sense for Meta to build separate apps just for New Mexico residents,” Meta’s lawyers added. “Nor could Meta guarantee the perfection the State demands, making it impractical for Meta to operate in New Mexico.”
EXPERT WARNS OF MASSIVE RECKONING FOR SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES: ‘GIANT CASE OF KARMA’
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| META | META PLATFORMS INC. | 611.91 | -57.21 | -8.55% |
The company has argued that it’s being unfairly singled out in comparison to other social media platforms that are popular with young people. It also previously signaled it will appeal the $375 million civil judgment against it.
New Mexico pushed back on Meta’s assertion that it would be impractical to comply with the safeguards it’s seeking for social media apps.
META ORDERED TO PAY $375M AFTER JURY FINDS PLATFORM ENABLED CHILD PREDATORS IN LANDMARK NEW MEXICO CASE
Meta is the parent company of apps including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
“Meta is showing the world how little it cares about child safety,” said New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. “Meta’s refusal to follow the laws that protect our kids tells you everything you need to know about this company and the character of its leaders.”
“We know Meta has the ability to make these changes. For years the company has rewritten its own rules, redesigned its products, and even bent to the demands of dictators to preserve market access. This is not about technological capability. Meta simply refuses to place the safety of children ahead of engagement, advertising revenue, and profit,” Torrez added.
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New Mexico is also seeking that Meta implement safer recommendation algorithms that don’t prioritize engagement over child well-being, restrictions on end-to-end encryption for minors, prominent warning labels about the platform’s risks, permanent bans for adults engaging in or facilitating the exploitation of children, and an independent oversight regime through a court-appointed child safety monitor.
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