Legislative · State · CA
California bill to add slavery descendants to Dream For All housing assistance program vetoed by Governor
- Direction
- -2 — major harm to freedmen
- Force
- 1.00 — enacted, vetoed, or final
- Status
- Overturned
- Date
- 2025-10-13
Why this rating
The bill would have added a provision for "descendants of formerly enslaved people" — lineage-connected language — to the Dream For All state housing down-payment assistance program. The Governor vetoed it and the Legislature did not override. Rated −2: a benefit written specifically for the lineage population was blocked. The veto of a lineage-directed benefit is treated as a major harm to freedmen, not a neutral non-event — adding lineage language to a bill and then having it struck down is a material setback for the designation. The veto is a completed action (force 1.00).
Summary
AB57, introduced by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor with numerous co-authors, would have amended Section 51523 of the California Health and Safety Code, which governs the California Dream For All Program (a state down-payment assistance program), to address eligibility or program terms for descendants of formerly enslaved people, according to the bill's title and description. The provided material does not include the operative bill text, so the specific mechanism (e.g., priority, set-aside, eligibility criteria, or funding allocation) is not established.
The bill passed the Assembly (52-10) and, after Senate amendments, was passed by the Senate (28-9); the Assembly concurred in the Senate amendments 60-10 on September 9, 2025. It was enrolled and presented to the Governor on September 16, 2025.
The Governor vetoed the bill on October 13, 2025. As of January 22, 2026, 'Consideration of Governor's veto' was stricken from the file, indicating the Legislature did not pursue an override vote, leaving the veto in effect and the bill dead for this session.
Sources
- California Dream for All Program: descendants of formerly enslaved people. — 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.