S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2619
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 19, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  BARRON,  PRETLOW,  DICKENS,  AUBRY,  WALKER,
   WILLIAMS, RICHARDSON, SOLAGES,  PICHARDO,  RODRIGUEZ,  PEOPLES-STOKES,
   COOK,   J. RIVERA,   DE LA ROSA,   PERRY,   VANEL,   HYNDMAN,  CAHILL,
   JEAN-PIERRE, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, TAYLOR, DILAN, DARLING, JOYNER,  BENE-
   DETTO,  EPSTEIN, REYES, FRONTUS, SIMON, RAMOS, FERNANDEZ, CRUZ, NOLAN,
   O'DONNELL -- read once and referred to the Committee  on  Governmental
   Operations
 
 AN  ACT to acknowledge the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and
   inhumanity of slavery in the city of New York and  the  state  of  New
   York;  to establish the New York state community commission on repara-
   tions remedies, to examine the institution of slavery, subsequently de
   jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against  African-
   Americans,  and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans
   and to make determinations regarding compensation; making an appropri-
   ation therefor; and providing for the repeal of such  provisions  upon
   expiration thereof
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the  "New  York
 state community commission on reparations remedies".
   §  2. Legislative intent.  Contrary to what many people believe, slav-
 ery was not just a southern institution. Prior  to  the  American  Revo-
 lution,  there  were more enslaved Africans in New York City than in any
 other city except Charleston, South Carolina. During this period, slaves
 accounted for 20% of the population of New York and approximately 40% of
 colonial New York's households owned slaves. These slaves were an  inte-
 gral part of the population which settled and developed what we now know
 as the state of New York.
   The  first  slaves arrived in New Amsterdam, a Dutch settlement estab-
 lished at the southern tip  of  Manhattan  Island,  around  1627.  These
 enslaved  Africans  did  not  belong  to individuals, but worked for the

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD00314-01-1

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 Dutch West India Company. The Dutch East India Company  had  established
 Fort  Amsterdam,  a  fortification  located  on  the southern tip of the
 island of Manhattan, for the purpose  of  defending  the  company's  fur
 trade  operations  in the North River, now known as the Hudson River. In
 1624, New Amsterdam became a provincial extension of the Dutch  Republic
 and it was designated the capital of the province in 1625.
   These first enslaved Africans cleared forests, prepared land for agri-
 culture  and  built  an  infrastructure of roads, buildings and walls of
 timber and earthwork, including the wall  that  gives  Wall  Street  its
 name.  During  the following years, more and more enslaved Africans were
 brought to the New World for the purpose of expanding the settlement.
   New Amsterdam came under English control in 1664 and was  renamed  New
 York  in  honor  of the then Duke of York, in whose name the English had
 captured it. Three years later, the Dutch gave up  their  claim  to  the
 town  and  the  rest  of  the colony, in exchange for control of certain
 trade routes and areas.
   The change of control of the city did not deter  slavery;  it  was  an
 enormously profitable enterprise and it continued under the English. New
 York  businesses  engaged  directly  in  slave  trade  and  also  in the
 production of supplies used in the slave trade.    They  supplied  food,
 tools  and  grain  to slave plantations in North America and in the West
 Indies.  Slave labor built and maintained ships used for  trade  between
 North  America,  Europe, the Caribbean and Africa. Slaves produced goods
 for sale and worked in private homes.  Even  newspapers  benefited  from
 slavery:    advertisements of slaves for purchase were a major source of
 revenue for the papers during the eighteenth century.
   Life was repressive for enslaved Africans in New York.  The  New  York
 City  Common  Council  passed  a  number of restrictive laws designed at
 curtailing the rights and freedoms of slaves.  Slaves were  barred  from
 owning  significant  property  and from bequeathing what they did own to
 their children. The number of people of African descent who could gather
 in one place was limited. Restrictions on  movement  included  requiring
 slaves  to carry lanterns after dark and to remain in certain geographic
 areas.
   Penalties for breaking these and other  laws  were  severe.  Beatings,
 mutilations and executions were common.
   Enslaved Africans refused to submit to the slave existence. The condi-
 tions  of their lives gave rise to rebellions and the development in the
 city of a network of the Underground Railroad.
   Not all citizens of New York agreed with slavery.  A  powerful  aboli-
 tionist  movement  developed, but the end of slavery in New York did not
 come easily or quickly. Those who profited from the slave economy fought
 to maintain the system.
   In 1799 the New York state legislature passed "An Act for the  Gradual
 Abolition  of  Slavery". This legislation was a first step in the direc-
 tion of emancipation, but did not have an immediate effect or affect all
 slaves. Rather, it provided for gradual manumission. All  children  born
 to  slave  women after July 4, 1799 would be freed, but only after their
 most productive years: age 28 for men  and  age  25  for  women.  Slaves
 already  in  servitude  before July 4, 1799 were reclassified as "inden-
 tured servants", but in reality, remained slaves  for  the  duration  of
 their lives.
   In  1817,  the  Legislature enacted a statute that gave freedom to New
 York slaves who had been born before July 4, 1799. This statute did  not
 become effective until July 4, 1827, however.

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   Despite  these laws, there were exceptions under which certain persons
 could still own slaves. Non-residents could enter New York  with  slaves
 for  up  to nine months, and allowing part-time residents to bring their
 slaves into the state temporarily. The  nine-months  exception  remained
 law  until  its repeal in 1841, when the North was re-defining itself as
 the "free" region in advance of the civil war.
   In 1991, a huge African burial ground was discovered in the  heart  of
 New  York's  financial district during construction of a skyscraper. The
 excavations that followed the termination of  the  construction  project
 yielded  the  skeletal  remains of 419 Africans, many of whom were women
 and children.
   The slavery that flourished in  the  New  York  state  constituted  an
 immoral  and  inhumane  deprivation  of Africans' life, liberty, African
 citizenship rights, and cultural heritage, and denied them the fruits of
 their own labor. Sufficient inquiry has not been made into  the  effects
 of the institution of slavery on living African-Americans and society in
 New York.
   §  3.  Establishment, purpose and duties of the commission.  a. Estab-
 lishment. There is hereby  established  the  New  York  state  community
 commission  on  reparations  remedies  (hereinafter  referred  to as the
 "commission").
   b. Duties. The commission shall perform the following duties:
   (1) Examine the institution of slavery which existed within the  state
 of  New  York  and in the city of New York. The commission's examination
 shall include an examination of:
   (A) the capture and procurement of Africans;
   (B) the transport of Africans to the United States  and  the  colonies
 that  became the United States for the purpose of enslavement, including
 their treatment during transport;
   (C) the sale and acquisition of Africans as chattel property in inter-
 state and intrastate commerce; and
   (D) the treatment of enslaved Africans in the city of New York and the
 state of New York, including the deprivation of their freedom, exploita-
 tion of their labor, and destruction of their culture,  language,  reli-
 gion, and families.
   (2)  Examine  the extent to which the federal and state governments of
 the United States supported the institution of slavery in constitutional
 and statutory provisions, including the extent to which such governments
 prevented, opposed, or restricted efforts of freed enslaved Africans  to
 repatriate to their homeland.
   (3)  Examine  federal  and state laws that discriminated against freed
 enslaved Africans and their descendants during the  period  between  the
 end of the Civil War and the present.
   (4)  Examine  other  forms of discrimination in the public and private
 sectors against freed enslaved Africans and their descendants during the
 period between the end of the Civil War and the present.
   (5) Examine the lingering negative effects of the institution of slav-
 ery and the matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3),  and  (4)  of
 this  subdivision  on  living  African-Americans  and  on society in the
 United States.
   (6) Recommend appropriate ways to educate the American public  of  the
 commission's findings.
   (7)  Recommend  appropriate  remedies  in consideration of the commis-
 sion's findings on the matters described in paragraphs  (1),  (2),  (3),
 and  (4) of this subdivision. The commission shall determine the form of

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 compensation, the amount of compensation and who should be eligible  for
 such compensation.
   c.  Report  to  the legislature. The commission shall submit a written
 report of its findings and recommendations to the temporary president of
 the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the  minority  leaders  of  the
 senate  and  the assembly and the governor not later than the date which
 is one year after the date of the first meeting of the  commission  held
 pursuant to subdivision c of section four of this act.
   §  4.  Membership.  a.  The  commission  shall be composed of fourteen
 members who shall be appointed within 90 days after the  effective  date
 of this act, as follows:
   (1) one member shall be appointed by the governor;
   (2) one member shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;
   (3)  one  member  shall be appointed by the temporary president of the
 senate;
   (4) one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assem-
 bly;
   (5) one member shall be  appointed  by  the  minority  leader  of  the
 senate;
   (6)  three  members  shall  be  appointed by the National Coalition of
 Blacks for Reparations in America (N.C.O.B.R.A.);
   (7) three members shall be appointed by the  December  12th  Movement;
 and
   (8)  three members shall be appointed by Dr. Ron Daniels of the Insti-
 tute of the Black World.
   b. All members of the commission shall be persons who  are  especially
 qualified  to  serve  on  the  commission  by virtue of their education,
 training, or experience, particularly in the field  of  African-American
 studies.
   c.  First  meeting.  The  chair  shall  call  the first meeting of the
 commission within 120 days after the effective date of this act or with-
 in 30 days after the date on which legislation is enacted making  appro-
 priations to carry out this act, whichever date is later.
   d.  Quorum. Eight members of the commission shall constitute a quorum,
 but a lesser number may hold hearings.
   e. Chair and vice chair. The commission shall elect a Chair  and  Vice
 Chair  from  among its members. The term of office for each shall be for
 one year.
   f. Compensation. The  members  of  the  commission  shall  receive  no
 compensation  for their services as members, but shall be reimbursed for
 their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their
 duties.
   § 5. Powers of the commission.  a. Hearings and sessions. The  commis-
 sion  may,  for  the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act,
 hold such hearings and sit and act at such times and at such  places  in
 the  United  States,  and  request  the attendance and testimony of such
 witnesses and the production of  such  books,  records,  correspondence,
 memoranda,  papers, and documents, as the commission considers appropri-
 ate.
   b. Powers of subcommittees and members. Any subcommittee or member  of
 the  commission  may,  if  authorized by the commission, take any action
 which the commission is authorized to take by this section.
   c. Obtaining official data. The commission may acquire  directly  from
 the  head of any department, agency, or instrumentality of the executive
 branch of the government, available  information  which  the  commission
 considers  useful in the discharge of its duties. All departments, agen-

 A. 2619                             5
 
 cies, and instrumentalities of the executive branch  of  the  government
 shall cooperate with the commission with respect to such information and
 shall  furnish all information requested by the commission to the extent
 permitted by law.
   §  6.  Administrative  provisions.    a.  Experts and consultants. The
 commission may procure through a competitive  process  the  services  of
 experts and consultants.
   b.  Administrative  support  services.  The  commission may enter into
 agreements with the commissioner of general services for procurement  of
 financial and administrative services necessary for the discharge of the
 duties  of  the  commission.  Payment for such services shall be made by
 reimbursement from funds of the commission in such  amounts  as  may  be
 agreed  upon  by  the  chair  of  the commission and the commissioner of
 general services.
   c. Contracts. The commission may:
   (1) procure supplies, services, and property by contract in accordance
 with applicable laws and regulations  and  to  the  extent  or  in  such
 amounts as are provided in appropriations acts; and
   (2) enter into contracts with departments, agencies, and instrumental-
 ities  of  the  federal  government,  state agencies, and private firms,
 institutions, and agencies, for the conduct of research or surveys,  the
 preparation of reports, and other activities necessary for the discharge
 of the duties of the commission, to the extent or in such amounts as are
 provided in appropriations acts.
   §  7.  Termination.  The  commission shall terminate 90 days after the
 date on which the commission submits its report to the temporary  presi-
 dent of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leaders of
 the  senate and the assembly and the governor as provided in subdivision
 c of section three of this act.
   § 8. The performance of the commission's duties, purposes  and  objec-
 tives  shall  be executed within amounts made available by appropriation
 therefor.
   § 9. The sum of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000),  or  so
 much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the New York
 state community commission to study reparations remedies from any moneys
 in  the  state treasury in the general fund, not otherwise appropriated,
 for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this  act.  Such  sum
 shall  be payable on the audit and warrant of the state chair of the New
 York state community commission to study reparations remedies, or his or
 her duly designated representative in the manner provided by law.
   § 10. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire  and  be
 deemed repealed 30 days after the New York state community commission to
 study reparations remedies submits its report to the temporary president
 of  the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leaders of the
 senate and the assembly and the governor as provided in subdivision c of
 section three of this act; provided that, the  chair  of  the  New  York
 state  community  commission  to study reparations remedies shall notify
 the legislative bill drafting commission  upon  the  submission  of  its
 report  as  provided  in  subdivision  c of section three of this act in
 order that the commission may maintain an accurate and timely  effective
 data  base  of the official text of the laws of the state of New York in
 furtherance of effecting the provisions of section 44 of the legislative
 law and section 70-b of the public officers law.