Legislative · State · CA
California AB 2186 Would Exclude Reparations Payments from State Income Tax; Advances Through Senate Committee
- Direction
- +1 — benefit to freedmen
- Force
- 1.00 — enacted, vetoed, or final
- Status
- Developing
- Date
- 2026-06-24
Why this rating
If enacted, the bill would ensure that any payments made under qualifying reparations programs are not reduced by California state income tax, meaning recipients — who in the California reparations policy context are understood to be descendants of enslaved African Americans/freedmen — would retain the full value of such payments rather than losing a share to state taxation. This is a meaningful, lineage-specific mechanism (tax treatment of reparations payments) but the bill has not yet been enacted; it remains in Senate committee with strong bipartisan-leaning support (58-17 Assembly passage, 4-0 committee vote), showing significant momentum but no current legal force. Rated +1 to reflect substantive advancement without yet crossing into enactment.
Summary
AB 2186, introduced by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor with Senator Tim Grayson and Assemblymember John Harabedian as co-sponsors, would add and repeal Section 17139 of California's Revenue and Taxation Code to exclude amounts received under 'reparations programs' from California Personal Income Tax. The bill is drafted as a tax levy measure intended to take effect immediately upon enactment.
The bill passed the California Assembly on May 26, 2026 by a vote of 58-17 after being amended multiple times in the Assembly Revenue & Taxation and Appropriations Committees. It was then referred to the Senate, read first time, and assigned to the Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation. On June 24, 2026, that committee voted 4-0 to advance the bill with a 'do pass' recommendation, re-referring it to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further consideration.
The bill has not yet passed the Senate or been signed into law. The provided material does not include the full bill text defining which 'reparations programs' would qualify for the tax exclusion (e.g., whether limited to programs for descendants of enslaved persons, such as those contemplated by California's reparations task force process, or reparations programs more broadly).
Sources
- Personal Income Tax Law: exclusions: reparations programs. — bill text · primary · legiscan
Rated under the published impact rubric. Direction records what a measure would do if fully effective; force records how far it has actually travelled. Neither is inferred — both trace to the sources above. Think something here is wrong? Tell us and we will log the correction.