The Democratic government of California, Gavin Newsom, on Tuesday appointed state assembly member Shirley Weber as the new California secretary of state.
Weber is known for writing reparations legislation that was codified in the state earlier this year.
Newsom quickly appointed Weber to the post after appointing current Secretary of State Alex Padilla to the seat of the United States Senate, soon to be vacated by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Weber, a San Diego Democrat, saw her bill be signed into law in September. The legislation calls for a nine-person task force to investigate how slavery has affected black people in California and develop recommendations on how to distribute reparations to address the harms of slavery and structural racism in the country.
The law does not limit reparations to slavery, although it requires the task force to pay special attention to black people who are descendants of slaves.
The panel should begin meeting by June 2021.
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California has never had a government-sanctioned slavery system. It entered the Union in 1850 as a free state after gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevada mountains. But the state ordered slave owners to bring their slaves to California.
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The law does not say that the reparations must be cash payments. Other options include forgiving student loans and paying for public works or vocational training projects.
The US has made reparations in the past, including to Japanese Americans held in internment camps during World War II.
Weber would be the first black woman to hold the position of California Secretary of State and the fourth woman to ever serve in that role.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.