A 8284: Enacts the "New York State Freedmen's Bureau Act"; establishes a New York state freedmen's bureau; makes an appropriation therefor.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8284 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY May 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. LUCAS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations AN ACT to establish a New York State Freedmen's Bureau; and making an appropriation therefor The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New York 2 State Freedmen's Bureau Act". 3 § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature makes the following findings 4 and declarations: 5 (a) Approximately 450,000+ Africans were trafficked and enslaved in 6 the United States and the colonies that became the United States from 7 1619 to 1865, inclusive. At the peak of slavery their descendants 8 numbered 4,000,000. 9 (b) The institution of slavery was constitutionally and statutorily 10 sanctioned by the United States from 1776 through 1865, inclusive. 11 (c) The chattel slavery that flourished in the United States consti- 12 tuted an immoral and inhumane deprivation of Africans' life, liberty, 13 citizenship rights, and cultural heritage and denied them the fruits of 14 their own labor. 15 (d) A preponderance of scholarly, legal, and community evidentiary 16 documentation, as well as popular culture markers, constitute the basis 17 for inquiry into the ongoing effects of the institution of slavery and 18 its legacy embodied in persistent systemic structures of discrimination 19 on living descendants of persons enslaved in the United States, American 20 Freedmen. 21 (e) Contrary to what many people believe, slavery was not just a 22 southern institution. Prior to the American Revolution, there were more 23 enslaved Africans in New York City than in any other city except Charle- 24 ston, South Carolina. During this period, slaves accounted for 20% of 25 the population of New York and approximately 40% of colonial New York 26 households owned slaves. In 1799 the New York State Legislature passed 27 "An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery". This legislation was a 28 first step in the direction of emancipation but did not have an immedi- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08267-03-5 
 A. 8284 2 1 ate effect on or affect all enslaved people. Rather, it provided for 2 gradual manumission. All children born to enslaved women after July 4, 3 1799, would be freed, but only after their most productive years: age 28 4 for men and age 25 for women. Enslaved persons already in servitude 5 before July 4, 1799, were reclassified as "indentured servants", but in 6 reality, remained enslaved for the duration of their lives. In 1817, the 7 Legislature enacted a statute that gave freedom to New York enslaved 8 people who had been born before July 4, 1799. This statute did not 9 become effective until July 4, 1827, however, despite these laws, there 10 were exceptions under which certain persons could still own slaves; 11 non-residents could enter New York with slaves for up to nine months, 12 and part-time residents were allowed to bring their slaves into the 13 state temporarily. The nine-month exception remained law until its 14 repeal in 1841 when the North was redefining itself as the "free" region 15 in advance of the Civil War. 16 (f) Following the abolition of slavery, the United States government 17 at the federal, state, and local levels continued to perpetuate, 18 condone, and often profit from practices that maintained brutalization 19 and disadvantage for descendants of persons enslaved in the United 20 States, American Freedmen, including but not limited to Black Codes, 21 sharecropping, convict leasing, Jim Crow laws, lynching, redlining, 22 unequal education, etc. 23 (g) As a result of the badges and incidents of slavery, Jim Crow, and 24 continued targeted discriminatory policy, the descendants of persons 25 enslaved in the United States, American Freedmen, continue to suffer 26 debilitating economic, educational, and health hardships. 27 § 3. Definition. For the purposes of this act, the term "American 28 Freedmen" shall mean those persons who have at least one ancestor that 29 was enslaved in the United States of America, who was emancipated in 30 1863 by way of the Emancipation Proclamation or in 1865 by way of the 31 13th Amendment to the Constitution, and have been despoiled their rights 32 as citizens due to the badges, incidents and vestiges of slavery. 33 § 4. Establishment, purpose, and duties of the bureau. (a) Establish- 34 ment. There is hereby established the New York State Freedmen's Bureau, 35 which may be referred to in this act as the "bureau". 36 (b) Duties. The bureau shall perform the following duties: 37 (i) Develop programs for American Freedmen which focus on community 38 life, education, and workforce development. 39 (ii) Connect American Freedmen with their lineage using methods 40 including, but not limited to, genealogical research. 41 (iii) Designate individuals who are American Freedmen as the popu- 42 lation that will be the focus and sole beneficiaries of the bureau's 43 programs. 44 (iv) Be the central administrator of programs recommended by the 45 bureau which become law. 46 § 5. Appropriation. The sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000), 47 or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the 48 New York State Freedmen's Bureau from any moneys in the state treasury 49 in the general fund to the credit of the state purposes account not 50 otherwise appropriated for the purposes of carrying out the provisions 51 of this act. Such sum shall be payable on the audit and warrant of the 52 state comptroller on vouchers certified or approved by the director of 53 the New York State Freedmen's Bureau, or their duly designated represen- 54 tative in the manner provided by law. 55 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.