California Black Media
SACRAMENTO — Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Culver City, has introduced Assembly Bill 2599, legislation that seeks to uncover historical and modern-day links between specific industries and the practice of slavery through mandatory self-reporting.
Titled “Slavery: Corporate Disclosures,” the bill requires specific companies — including textile, tobacco, railroad, shipping, financial, and insurance firms — to submit affidavits declaring whether they or their related entities facilitated or profited from slavery.
When asked by California Black Media (CBM) to clarify the specifics of the bill before the Legislature recessed, Bryan declined to comment but indicated he would address the matter at a later time.
AB 2599 will be heard in the Assembly Judiciary Committee in mid- to late April.
“We’ll talk about it after the hearing,” Bryan said March 24.
According to the bill’s language, particular provisions of AB 2599 would require companies in key industries to search their records and submit an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, verifying if they or their related entities bought or sold enslaved people, used them as collateral, or provided financing and insurance for such transactions.
The disclosures must include the names of individuals involved and evidence of profits gained from the slavery-related transactions. The deadlines for companies’ disclosure would be before Jan. 1, 2027, and the initial affidavit would be due by July 1, 2027.
Co-authored by California Legislative Black Caucus Chair state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, D–San Diego, the legislation also emphasizes public accountability. Under the bill’s provisions, AB 2599 requires the creation of a public digital platform by Jan. 3, 2028, to make affidavits, reports and related data accessible.
The language states that the bill is intended to “promote healing and assist in remedying depressed economic conditions, poverty, unequal educational opportunity, and other legacies of slavery.”
