Overview

• Assembly Bill 7 allows, but does not require, UC, Cal State and private colleges to consider admissions preference for applicants who prove direct descent from someone enslaved in the U.S. before 1900.
• Backers frame the policy as race-neutral by tying eligibility to documented lineage rather than race, citing legal constraints under Proposition 209 and recent Supreme Court rulings.
• Senate Bill 518 would create a Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery to verify and certify descendant status for access to programs.
• Assembly Bill 57 reserves 10% of California’s Dream for All first-time homebuyer loans for verified descendants to support wealth-building.
• Assembly Bill 67 sets a process to return or compensate property taken through racially motivated eminent domain, with analysts warning potential costs ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars, and the package is expected to draw legal challenges once signed.