A Texas lawmaker has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to block federal funding for state or local governments that create laws to pay reparations for slavery.
H.R.4321 was introduced by five-term U.S. Rep. Brian Babin on June 23.
“American taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay for radical, race-based ‘reparation’ payments to please the woke Left,” Babin told Fox News.
The bill has 13 co-sponsors, including other Texas Republicans in the House, and it would prohibit the federal government from providing financial assistance or bailouts to states or local counties and municipalities approving reparations laws.
“My bill ensures that government entities enacting reparation laws based on race, ethnicity, national origin, or slavery cannot receive federal bailouts,” Babin said.
The bill comes several months after Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat representing a Houston-area district, introduced bill H.R.40 to commission, study and develop reparation proposals for Black Americans. Jackson Lee introduced the bill on Jan. 9. The Hill has stalled on pulling the trigger on reparations for decades.
Babin’s bill also comes as California has finalized a proposal for reparations for Black residents. Evanston, Illinois has already paid some money to residents with its Restorative Housing Fund. The fund allocates $25,000 worth of housing improvements, mortgage assistance, or down payments to Black residents who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969.
Cities like San Francisco and Providence, Rhode Island are considering redress for Black residents. San Francisco has discussed $5 million one-time cash payments for residents while Providence is considering grant funding instead of direct cash payments.
Texas Republicans aren’t the only ones blocking reparations efforts. An Oklahoma judge threw out a lawsuit filed on behalf of the surviving members of the Tulsa Race Massacre on July 7, according to The Associated Press.
In 1921, more than 300 Black Americans were murdered as a white mob burned down their neighborhood in Greenwood over a false assault claim from a white woman. A lawsuit for reparations was filed on behalf of the three surviving victims in 2020, but Judge Caroline Wall dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice last Friday.
No action has been taken on H.R.4321, but it has been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
