California Lawmakers Advance Bill Requiring Major Corporations to Investigate Profits From Slavery

California lawmakers have approved legislation that would require some of the nation’s largest corporations to investigate whether their businesses profited from slavery and publicly disclose what they uncover.

Assembly Bill 2599, which now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom, would apply to corporations generating more than $100 million in annual worldwide sales. If signed into law, those companies would be required to examine their own records, along with records belonging to predecessors and subsidiaries, for evidence of financial involvement in slavery.

The investigation would include determining whether companies bought or sold enslaved people or benefited financially from transactions involving enslaved people. The bill also specifically addresses indirect profits, including money earned through insurance policies, loans and other forms of financing connected to slavery.

The legislation is limited to corporations, predecessors or subsidiaries that existed before December 1964. That cutoff is intended to focus the requirement on businesses with potential historical connections to slavery rather than applying it broadly to every major corporation operating today.

The bill could have significant implications for the ongoing discussion surrounding corporate responsibility and reparations. For generations, slavery generated enormous wealth throughout the American economy, benefiting businesses and financial institutions in ways that extended beyond the direct ownership and sale of enslaved people. Supporters of the legislation argue that documenting those connections is an important part of understanding that history.

Not everyone believes disclosure alone will be enough. Reparations advocates have expressed differing opinions over whether requiring corporations to reveal their historical profits will lead to meaningful accountability or financial compensation.

Insurance companies also opposed the legislation, arguing that California already has a law requiring insurers to disclose historical policies issued to slaveholders that covered the death or injury of enslaved people. Companies including New York Life Insurance, Aetna and AIG have previously disclosed slavery-related connections under that law.

If Newsom signs the bill, implementation would still depend on funding from the Legislature. California’s Civil Rights Department would need funding to create a digital platform where the corporate disclosures could be collected and made available to the public.

Newsom has until September 30 to decide whether to sign or veto the measure. If enacted, California would take another step toward forcing major corporations to confront and document the financial legacy of slavery.