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A California county that faced a $91 million budget gap this year has approved a sweeping reparations plan for black residents that calls for major changes to housing, education, healthcare and criminal justice — while leaving the door open to cash payments.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on June 30 to accept the comprehensive plan following more than two years of research and community engagement.
The plan largely centers on institutional and policy changes rather than immediately handing out direct payments, though officials have not ruled out eventually putting cash in the hands of eligible residents.
The ambitious push comes after Alameda County officials warned during this year’s budget process that they were confronting a projected $91 million gap for fiscal year 2026-27.
The county ultimately adopted a balanced $6.7 billion budget in June amid what officials described as significant fiscal challenges.
Supervisor Nate Miley—who represents District Four and was a leading force behind the reparations initiative—told Fox News that cash payments remain among the possibilities under consideration.
“We haven’t ruled it out. It’s one of the items in the action plan. It’s not the only item.”
“I think if it were the only item, or if it was a priority item, it might be more challenging,” Miley said. “But I do think there’s some low-hanging fruit — some immediate things we can do, and some things we’re already doing.
“And then there might be the more challenging things. A cash payment might be one of those more challenging things.”
The reparations framework calls for expanding affordable housing, supporting black economic development, increasing investments in education and healthcare, and pursuing criminal justice reforms.
Supervisors also approved the creation of a permanent standing committee to oversee the implementation of the recommendations, according to the outlet.
“The committee now has an action plan. It’s in our ballpark,” Miley said. “We need to take it up and deal with it.”
Miley identified criminal justice reform, housing, education, and economic opportunity as three major issues the county should prioritize.
“Clearly, economic opportunity is another important factor,” explained Miley. “It’s hard to balance those four and say which is more prominent, but I do think all four of those are significant.
“I see reparations as a path, an opportunity,” he added. “I wouldn’t say it’s a panacea, but I do believe it’s definitely a part of the equation that could help African Americans.”
Alameda County has already partnered with the nearby City of Hayward on a separate effort providing direct financial redress.
The Russell City Redress Fund was initially seeded with $900,000 and has since grown to $1.3 million.
The money is intended to provide direct payments to survivors and descendants of Russell City, a multiracial unincorporated community that was seized through eminent domain and bulldozed by local authorities in the 1950s and 1960s for industrial redevelopment.
The debate over direct payments comes as a reparations program in Evanston, Illinois, faces a federal legal challenge.
The Chicago suburb became the first US city to distribute reparations, offering $25,000 housing grants to eligible black residents to address historic housing discrimination.
The US Department of Justice intervened in a federal class-action lawsuit challenging the program in June, arguing that its race-based criteria violate the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution.
Miley said cash payments alone would not necessarily accomplish the broader changes county officials are seeking.
“And once again, that’s why a cash payment isn’t necessarily always the objective,” he said.
“The objective is: How do we get people to have housing? How do we get people to be economically stable? How do you deal with criminal justice reform?
“A cash payment doesn’t always mean that those things will occur. We have to change policies, and we have to change programs. I think that’s where we need to invest our resources.”
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