Two New Jersey Democrats have introduced legislation that would send direct reparations payments to every Black resident of the state, regardless of whether they descend from enslaved people, while also creating a new state agency to oversee the effort. The bill, introduced on June 15, 2026, goes far beyond New Jersey's 2008 formal apology for slavery, aiming to replace that largely symbolic gesture with what its sponsors call concrete legislative accountability.
Known as the Truth, Reconciliation, and Repair Act of New Jersey, the measure was introduced by Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson and State Sen. Angela McKnight, who represents Legislative District 31. As reported by the New York Post, the legislation seeks direct reparations payments to all Black New Jersey residents, including those who are not descendants of enslaved people. According to LegiScan, the bill is designated Assembly Bill 5253 and Senate Bill 4459, and has been referred to the Assembly Community Development and Women's Affairs Committee and the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee.
As of publication, the bill has not received a legislative hearing, per the Post's reporting. The legislation reads that New Jersey should move from symbolism to accountability through an apology, and it demands a formal state apology for slavery alongside efforts to rectify the lingering consequences of slavery, Jim Crow, and other ongoing harms against Black people, according to the same report. The bill also demands stopping future human rights violations and describes its goal as a New Jersey where Black people can flourish.
Why Sponsors Say the 2008 Apology Fell Short
New Jersey's government issued a symbolic apology for slavery in 2008. That resolution, Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 270, expressed profound regret for the state's role in slavery and made New Jersey the fifth U.S. state and the first northern state to apologize, according to the New Jersey State Legislature. But the resolution explicitly rejected any commitment to financial restitution or repair, the same legislative record shows.
During a June 18, 2025 virtual press conference, Reynolds-Jackson said lawmakers already have sufficient wealth disparity data to recognize that an apology without concrete legislative accountability cannot resolve systemic inequalities, according to the Amsterdam News. The bill endorses the findings of the New Jersey Reparations Council report, and it reads that the report outlines a path toward policies addressing the racial wealth gap, investing in Black communities, and confronting systemic inequities, per the Post's reporting.
New Jersey's Long, Delayed Path Out of Slavery
New Jersey was the last northern state to end slavery, a distinction rooted in its 1804 gradual emancipation law, which kept children born to enslaved mothers in unpaid servitude until age 21 for women and 25 for men. The state did not fully ratify the 13th Amendment until January 23, 1866, according to the New Jersey Department of State.
Historically, Perth Amboy served as New Jersey's primary port of entry for enslaved Africans, and by 1800 the state held more than 12,000 enslaved people, with Bergen County holding the highest concentration, where about 2,300 enslaved people lived, according to Rider University research. Today, text within the bill notes that Black residents comprise over 15% of New Jersey's population, exceeding one million people, and highlights a median household wealth gap between Black and white families in the state exceeding $600,000.
The Reparations Council Report Behind the Bill
The bill's roots trace to the New Jersey Reparations Council, a private research initiative founded by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which has a $13 billion endowment. Launched on Juneteenth in 2023 and co-chaired by Rutgers Law Professor Taja-Nia Henderson and Princeton scholar Khalil Gibran Muhammad, the council produced a report in 2025 titled The Nowness of Reparations for Black People in New Jersey, containing nearly 100 policy recommendations, according to the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.
That report calls for reparations for all Black New Jersey residents and claims the state was profoundly shaped by slavery. It calls for direct payments aimed at addressing a $642,800 household racial wealth gap, and it outlines dozens of potential policy changes, per the Post's reporting.
What the Bill Would Do Beyond Cash Payments
Beyond direct payments, Assembly Bill 5253 proposes creating a state Reparations Bureau to oversee implementation, according to LegiScan's bill text. Other proposed policy remedies described in the legislation include establishing a guaranteed income for all New Jersey residents, expanding free healthcare access to adults and children, and restoring voting rights to incarcerated people.
The bill's remedies also include expanding free healthcare access to all immigrants regardless of status and ending cooperation with federal deportations, per the Post's reporting. McKnight has previously introduced a bill requiring New Jersey hospitals to ask new parents about newborns' preferred pronouns and sexual orientation, according to the same report. New Jersey State Sen. Angela McKnight and Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson did not respond to the New York Post's requests for comment about the Truth, Reconciliation, and Repair Act.
How New Jersey's Approach Compares Nationally
New Jersey's all-resident eligibility model marks a departure from other state and local reparations efforts. California also has a reparations task force, according to the California Department of Justice.
At the local level, the article compares New Jersey's bill with other reparations efforts. New Jersey's bill, by contrast, does not restrict eligibility by lineage, and it remains unclear how lawmakers would fund direct payments or whether the measure will get a committee hearing during the current legislative session.
