California American Freedmen Affairs Agency.

Former law, until July 1, 2023, established the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, with a Special Consideration for African Americans Who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States. Former law required the task force to, among other things, identify, compile, and synthesize the relevant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery that existed within the United States and the colonies, as specified, and to recommend the form of compensation that should be awarded, the instrumentalities through which it should be awarded, and who should be eligible for this compensation. This bill would establish the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency as an agency within state government, to be headed by a secretary who is appointed by the Governor and subject to Senate confirmation, and would make conforming changes. The bill would specify that the purpose of the agency is to verify a resident's status as an American Freedman, as defined, and create and maintain an accurate database registry of American Freedmen residents. This bill would require the agency to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, implement the provisions of this bill, including establishing, by July 1, 2027, the American Freedmen Genealogy Office within the agency to verify a resident's status as an American Freedmen and establishing the Office of Freedmen Legal Affairs to conduct and manage its legal affairs. The bill would require the secretary, with the assistance of agency staff, to, among other things, develop a mission statement and strategic plan for the agency, and a matrix and metrics of success for the offices of the agency. The bill would require the secretary, commencing on January 1, 2029, to report to the Legislature on a triennial basis on successes and challenges in meeting its goals. This bill would require the Senate and Assembly to annually conduct hearings to review agency performance, investigate issues, and ensure agency accountability. The bill would require the secretary to appear at those hearings. The bill would require, commencing January 1, 2028, and every 3 years thereafter, the agency to submit a report to the Legislature on its activities and performance. The bill would also require, commencing January 1, 2029, and every 5 years thereafter, through the California State Auditor, the Legislature to request performance and financial audits of the agency and make recommendations for improvement or corrective legislation. This bill would prohibit personal information of American Freedmen residents obtained under this act from being shared outside the agency, except as necessary to fulfill the agency's purpose. The bill would also require interagency sharing of personal information about American Freedmen residents to be limited to demographics only, except as necessary to fulfill the agency's purposes. The bill would prohibit the agency from using any agency resources, including, but not limited to, agency funds, personnel, and infrastructure, to directly or indirectly participate or assist in law enforcement activity. Existing law prohibits a state agency, with certain exceptions, from employing any in-house counsel to act on behalf of the state agency or its employees in any judicial or administrative adjudicative proceeding in which the agency is interested, or is a party as a result of office or official duties, or contracting with outside counsel for any purpose. This bill would exempt the agency from those prohibitions. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.