Commissioners studying reparations for the impact of New York's role in the slave trade want state lawmakers to give them more time and money in this year's budget to get the job done. The nine members of the state's Community Commission on Reparations Remedies have about six months left to complete a $5 million study before submitting a report of recommendations to the Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The law to create the commission, which Hochul signed in 2023, gave the group one year to research the consequences of original enslavement, segregation and ongoing racism. The group first convened last July, but President Seanelle Hawkins said the work has just begun — with many staffing positions unfilled due to the state's lengthy hiring process. "In order to represent a quality report, we will need more time and most importantly, we will need the staff to do the day-to-day work," said Hawkins, the president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Rochester.
"There are a lot of things that are expected of the commission and we want to make sure that what we contribute back to the Legislature is quality." Hawkins said the commission's executive director will be hired and start work by the end of January — just in time for the next public hearings in Albany and Rochester. The commission will hold its next public hearing here in Albany on Feb.
15, and a subsequent hearing in Rochester on March 3. The hearing locations and start times have not been finalized, bu.
