California Law Requires Large Pre-1965 Companies to Disclose Historical Ties to Slavery
California Governor Gavin Newsom on September 30 signed AB 2599, the Truth in Disclosure Act, into law. The measure requires companies that existed — or whose predecessors existed — on or before December 1964, and that take in more than $100 million in annual worldwide gross receipts, to search their own records and file sworn affidavits, under penalty of perjury, disclosing whether they or their predecessors profited from slavery.
The first filings are due January 15, 2029, and will feed a public, searchable database run by the state Civil Rights Department, which must be built within a year after lawmakers fund it. The law grew out of the reparations task force Newsom created in 2020, whose 2023 report carried more than 100 recommendations. According to CalMatters, it is the first law of its kind in the nation.
Insurers note that a separate California law from 2000 already required disclosure of slavery-era insurance policies, while critics warn the new measure adds another layer of compliance costs for businesses weighing where to operate.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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