D.C. Act 25-686. Insurance Database Amendment Act of 2024.

AN ACT

To establish a Commission on Reparations to study and develop reparation proposals for eligible African Americans and a Reparations Foundation Fund to be used for the future payment of reparations; and to amend the Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation Establishment Act of 1996 to require the Commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking to establish a slavery era database of insurance records and financial records.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the "Insurance Database Amendment Act of 2024".

TITLE I. COMMISSION ON REPARATIONS.

Sec. 101. Commission on Reparations; establishment and purpose.

(a) There is established a Commission on Reparations ("Commission").

(b) The Commission shall:

(1) With a focus on African Americans and matters in the District of Columbia and the role of District government (in all its forms), study and analyze the:

(A) Institution of slavery;

(B) Transatlantic and domestic slave trade that existed in what is now the United States between the period of 1619 to 1865;

(C) Federal and state governments support, constitutionally and statutorily, of the institution of slavery;

(D) Lawful and de facto discrimination against enslaved people and other free African American people and their descendants from the end of the Civil War to the present, including economic, political, educational, and social discrimination, and structural and institutional racism;

(E) Direct benefits received by societal institutions, public and private, including higher education, corporate, religious, and associations as a result of the institution of slavery and its ongoing repercussions;

(F) Takings of property, generally, through civil asset forfeiture, the seizure of land acquired through eminent domain, and other unjust land seizures broadening the wealth gap, and, specifically, such takings by the District government or federal government between 1865 and 1973, including in the areas around Broad Branch Road, Chevy Chase, and Fort Reno, and in the southwest quadrant; which study may include soliciting public feedback from individuals who claim knowledge of property, familial or otherwise, that was taken by the District government or federal government;

(G) Compounding effect of the racial wealth gap over time and the impact of the racial wealth gap on areas such as health outcomes and public safety; and

(H) Ongoing negative effects of the institution of slavery on African Americans living today and society at large in the United States today, including in such areas as the de facto segregation of the African American population, the criminal legal system, mass incarceration, prison conditions, police brutality, and education, displacement from the District, and other areas of continuing structural and institutional racism.

(2) Based on the Commission's study and analysis of the matters described in paragraph (1) of this subsection and as further authorized by this title, develop a proposal to provide eligible African Americans monetary reparations or other forms of redress.

(3) The Commission shall be guided, but not restricted, by the 5 conditions for full reparations as detailed in principles 19 to 23 of the United Nations's General Assembly Resolution 60/147, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition.

Sec. 102. Duties and responsibilities.

(a) The Commission shall:

(1) Study and explore the creation of a new government agency, such as, for example, an African American People's Bureau, to implement any or all of the reparations proposals;

(2) Make recommendations regarding the sources, distribution method, and schedule of distribution to eligible African Americans of the funds in the Reparations Fund established by section 201, including recommending a method to exempt the recipients of funds from having to contribute to the sources of the Reparations Fund and from having any funds received from the Reparations Fund taxed, included in a recipient's taxable income, or in any manner negatively affecting any public assistance that a recipient may be receiving or may have received.

(3) Compile and synthesize evidentiary documentation and testimonies of lived experiences ("documentation") relating to the institution of slavery and its aftereffects in the United States during the period 1619 to 1865 up to the present, with a focus on the District of Columbia and former residents of the District, including, to the extent possible, documentation related to:

(A) The capture and procurement of Africans;

(B) The forced removal and treatment of Africans from Africa and the African diaspora to what became the United States for the purpose of enslavement;

(C) The sale and acquisition of Africans as chattel property in interstate and intrastate commerce;

(D) The treatment of enslaved human beings, including the deprivation of their freedom, exploitation of their labor, and attempted destruction of their culture, language, religion, and families;

(E) The extensive denial of humanity and reproductive autonomy, rape and sexual abuse, forced breeding, and chattelization of persons for financial gain;

(F) The federal and state laws that restricted the movement, land ownership, liberty, and humanity of African Americans, including Black codes, vagrancy acts, eminent domain, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, police brutality, prison conditions, and other forms of disenfranchisement;

(G) The federal and state laws and programs that discriminated against African Americans from 1619 to the present, including the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862;

(H) The other forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against African Americans from 1862 to the present, including redlining and unjust land seizures, educational funding discrepancies, health disparities, and predatory financial practices;

(I) The ongoing negative effects of the institution of slavery on living African Americans; and

(J) The lived experiences of African Americans in the District, including the spoken narratives of enslaved peoples, oral histories, and spoken testimonies.

(4) In partnership with community-based organizations with a demonstrated interest in reparations, recommend ways to educate the public of the Commission's findings.

(b) In addition to the Commission's findings in subsection (a) of this section, the Commission shall detail in the report required by section 103:

(1) The criteria it determines should define an eligible African American entitled to monetary reparations or other forms of redress from the District government;

(2) How its recommendations comport with international standards, as set forth in various relevant international protocols, laws, and findings, for reparations or other measures to make amends for the wrongs and injuries caused by the institution of slavery and its aftermath;

(3) In what manner the District government can offer a formal apology for its role in the harms perpetuated on African Americans due to slavery and its aftermath;

(4) How District laws and policies that may continue to disproportionately and negatively affect African Americans and perpetuate the lingering material and psychosocial effects of slavery can be eliminated;

(5) How the resultant injuries can be repaired, including how to provide policies, programs, projects, and recommendations to effect that repair;

(6) How the amount of compensation due to eligible African Americans should be calculated;

(7) In addition to monetary compensation, if and in what form other redress should be provided to eligible African Americans and through what instrumentalities; and

(8) The development and implementation of any programs for African Americans that may be warranted and the suggested form and scope of those programs, if any.

Sec. 103. Reporting requirement.

(a)(1) The Commission shall submit a written report of its findings and recommendations, which may be accompanied by draft legislation or a list of specific steps for implementing its recommendations, to the Mayor and Council no later than 18 months after the date of the first meeting of the Commission held pursuant to section 106(a).

(2) The Commission shall submit a written interim update of its progress to the Mayor and Council no later than 270 days after the date of the first meeting of the Commission.

(b) Following submission of the report, as required by subsection (a)(1) of this section, the Commission shall convene a public forum to announce its findings and recommendations.

(c) All recommendations and reports, including updates, prepared and submitted to the Mayor and Council by the Commission shall be made a matter of public record.

Sec. 104. Composition.

(a)(1) The Commission shall consist of 12 members; 9 voting members appointed by the Chairperson of the Council and 3 ex-officio members.

(2) The 9 voting members shall include:

(A) Two appointees from organizations with a demonstrated commitment to reparations and preventing and repairing harms caused by racial injustice;

(B) Two appointees from the field of academia who have expertise in at least 2 of the following 3 areas: civil rights, history, or constitutional law;

(C) Two appointees that either currently reside in the District who have been District residents for at least 20 years or who do not currently reside in the District but formerly did so and for at least 20 years;

(D) One appointee who has expertise in community development and social justice in the District; and

(E) One appointee from a faith-based organization.

(3)(A) Members shall be drawn from diverse backgrounds to represent the interests of African American communities throughout the District, have experience seeking and implementing racial justice reform, and, to the extent possible, represent geographically diverse areas of the District.

(B) The Chairperson of the Council may give special consideration to long-time District residents who, in his or her determination, have been most harmed by the injury set forth in this title.

(b) The 3 non-voting ex officio members, who may attend and participate in meetings, shall be the:

(1) Commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking or the Commissioner's designee;

(2) District's State Archivist or the Archivist's designee; and

(3) Director of the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights or the Director's designee.

(c)(1) The term of office for members shall be for the life of the Commission.

(2) The Chairperson of the Council shall appoint the Commission members no later than 60 days after the effective date of this title.

(3) A vacancy in the voting members on the Commission shall not affect the powers of the Commission. A vacancy shall be filled in the same manner that the original appointment was made.

Sec. 105. Organization; compensation; authority.

(a) The voting members of the Commission shall elect a chair from among its voting members; except, that the chair may not be a member of the Council. The Chair of the Commission, or a voting member that the Chair designates as Vice-Chair in his or her absence, shall convene all meetings of the Commission. Voting by proxy shall not be permitted.

(b)(1) The voting members of the Commission, by a majority vote, shall hire an Executive Director who shall perform the duties required for the day-to-day functioning of the Commission as considered necessary by the members, including appointment of staff, selection of consultants, and the administration of meetings and report production. The Executive Director shall serve for the life of the Commission. A vacancy shall be filled in the same manner that the original selection was made.

(2) The Executive Director shall receive an annual salary consistent with the District of Columbia Government Salary Schedule for Excepted Service (ES) employees, at the midpoint of Grade 10, plus fringe benefits.

(c)(1) Each voting member of the Commission shall be entitled to a stipend of $10,000 per year for their service on the Commission; except that, a member of the Council shall not receive a stipend.

(2) Voting members of the Commission shall be entitled to per diem compensation and reimbursement of expenses for up to 18 meetings of the Commission, not to exceed $2,500 per member.

(d)(1) The Commission's operations may be funded by annual appropriations or private sector assistance, or both.

(2)(A) If a special fund is established by the Commission for the receipt of operating donations from non-government sources, the fund shall be administered in accordance with established funding and auditing procedures of the District government. The expenditure of donations shall not be subject to appropriation.

(B) The Commission shall keep a record, available to the public for inspection, of all donations, assistance, and any substantial non-government in-kind contributions received. The record shall include the full name, address, and occupation or type of business of each donor.

(C) For purpose of this subsection, the term "substantial non-government in-kind contributions" includes any service reasonably valued at more than $5,000 that is received from any source other than the District or federal government.

(e)(1) The Commission shall have the authority to:

(A) Hold hearings, roundtables, and sit and act at any time and location in the District and to use space and supplies owned or rented by the District government;

(B) Request the attendance and testimony of witnesses;

(C) Request the production of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents;

(D) Seek an order from a Superior Court of the District of Columbia compelling testimony or compliance with a subpoena; and

(E) Create and operate under its own rules of procedure, consistent with this title.

(2) Any member of the Commission may, if authorized by the Chair or Vice-Chair of the Commission, take any action that the Commission is authorized to take pursuant to this title.

(3) The Commission may acquire directly from the head of any executive agency available information that the Commission considers useful in the discharge of its duties.

(4) All Executive agencies shall cooperate with the Commission with respect to such information and shall furnish all information requested by the Commission to the extent permitted by law.

(5) The Commission shall keep confidential information received from an executive agency that is confidential, as required by law.

(f) The Commission may:

(1) Hire and fix the compensation of such personnel as the Commission considers appropriate, such as an attorney, researcher, economist, historian, genealogist, constitutional law scholar, data scientist, facilitator, forensic accountant, or mental health professional;

(2) Employ administrative, technical, and legal assistance;

(3) Procure supplies, services, and property by contract in accordance with applicable laws and rules; and

(4) Enter into contracts for the purposes of conducting research or surveys, preparing reports, developing a communications strategy for the release of the report, and performing other activities necessary for the discharge of the duties of the Commission with executive agencies, instrumentalities of the District, federal departments, agencies, other instrumentalities, and private entities.

Sec. 106. Meetings; quorum; sunset.

(a) The first meeting of the Commission shall occur no later than June 1, 2025.

(b) At least 3 meetings shall be devoted to the issue of eligibility for reparations.

(c)(1) The Commission shall consider holding a certain number of meetings during publicly accessible times, such as during weekends and in evenings.

(2) Members shall remain in partnership throughout the life of the Commission with an organized coalition comprised of impacted African Americans and cross-sector leaders who have a demonstrated interest in reparations in the District of Columbia and who are based in the District of Columbia metropolitan area.

(d) Five members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum.

(e) The Commission shall sunset after December 31, 2027, or after the report required by section 103(a)(1) has been submitted; except, that nothing shall prohibit the Council from soliciting the assistance of former members of the Commission or the Executive Director during its review of the Commission's report or following the sunset. Following the sunset, the Commission members or Executive Director shall be entitled to per diem compensation and reimbursement of expenses for this assistance.

Sec. 107. Reparations; payments and other forms of redress.

Any monetary reparations or other forms of redress provided by the District pursuant to this title shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any reparations provided at the federal level.

TITLE II. REPARATIONS FUND.

Sec. 201. Establishment of Reparations Fund.

(a) There is established as a special fund, the Reparations Fund, which shall be administered by the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia in accordance with subsections (c) and (d) of this section.

(b) The following funds shall be deposited into the Reparations Fund:

(1) Funds appropriated by the District;

(2) Gifts made to the Reparations Fund;

(3) Grants made to the Reparations Fund; and

(4) Public and private donations made to the Reparations Fund.

(c) The money in the Reparations Fund shall be used for the payment of reparations under the reparations program adopted by the District pursuant to the findings and recommendations of the Commission on Reparations established by Title I.

(d)(1) The money deposited into the Reparations Fund but not expended in a fiscal year shall not revert to the unassigned fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of a fiscal year, or at any other time.

(2) Subject to authorization in an approved budget and financial plan, any funds appropriated in the Reparations Fund shall be continually available without regard to fiscal year limitation.

TITLE III. SLAVERY ERA DATABASE ESTABLISHED.

Sec. 301. The Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation Establishment Act of 1996, effective May 21, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-268; D.C. Official Code § 31-101 et seq.), is amended by adding a new section 5a to read as follows:

"Sec. 5a. Slavery era database.

"(a) Within one year of the effective date of the Commission on Reparations Establishment Amendment Act of 2024, passed on 2nd reading on December 17, 2024 (Enrolled version of Bill 25-152) ("Reparations Act"), the Commissioner shall have established, and continue to maintain through the digital repository of the District of Columbia Office of Public Records Management, Archival Administration, and Library of Governmental Information, a publicly available online slavery era database that includes all records made available to the Department pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of this section.

"(b) The Commissioner shall request and obtain information from states or insurers licensed and doing business in the District of Columbia ("insurer") regarding any records of enslaver insurance policies issued by the insurer or any predecessor insurer during the slavery era, including insurance policies that provided coverage for injury to, or death of, enslaved people ("insurance records").

"(1) The Commissioner may obtain this information from other states that have conducted similar data calls; except, that the Commissioner shall request an update from the insurers that reported insurance records to those states on any new records identified since the initial data calls of those states.

"(2) The Commissioner may request this information from insurers in existence prior to 1865 or insurers with predecessor insurers in existence prior to 1865 that have not submitted records to other states that have conducted similar data calls.

"(3) The Commissioner shall disclose the names of all enslaved persons and enslavers described in the insurance records in the slavery era database.

"(c)(1) The Commissioner shall request information from banks licensed or doing business in the District of Columbia regarding any records of participation in the slavery era by the bank or any predecessor institution ("financial records"), including financial records of:

"(A) Lending capital for the purchase of enslaved persons;

"(B) Accepting enslaved persons as collateral for loans;

"(C) Taking ownership of enslaved persons in events of default on said loans;

"(D) Financing or otherwise supporting the abolition of slavery or the passage of enslaved persons to free states or territory; and

"(E) Other investments and profits from slavery.

"(2) The Commissioner shall disclose the names of all enslaved persons and enslavers and the transactions and profits described in the financial records in the slavery era database.

"(d)(1) Upon the publication of the slavery era database, the Commissioner shall issue a report on the information provided to the Commissioner pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of this section and submit the report to the Mayor and Council.

"(2) The report required under this subsection shall include a summary of insurance records and financial records obtained and a copy of each document provided to the Commissioner.

"(3) The report shall be made publicly available online and a hard copy of the report shall be maintained at the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University School of Law and the District of Columbia Archives.

"(e) Upon request of the Commission on Reparations, established by Title I of the Reparations Act, the Commissioner shall make the insurance records and financial records available, to the extent they are available, to the Commission on Reparations to aid it in its study of reparations proposals prior to public release.

"(f) The Mayor, pursuant to Title I of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act, approved October 21, 1968 (82 Stat. 1204; D.C. Official Code § 2-501 et seq.), may issue rules to carry out the provisions of this section.

"(g) For the purposes of this section, the term:

"(1) "Bank" means any insured bank as defined in 12 U.S.C. § 1813(h), or any institution eligible to become an insured bank as defined therein, which accepts demand deposits and makes commercial loans.

"(2) "Enslaved person" means an individual:

"(A) Who had no freedom of action;

"(B) Whose person and services were wholly under the control of another;

"(C) Who was in a state of enforced compulsory service to another; and

"(D) Who could not legally leave enforced compulsory service to another on the individual's own initiative during the individual's lifetime before the end of the slavery era.".

"(3) "Enslaver" means:

"(A) An owner of an enslaved person;

"(B) An owner of a commercial enterprise that used the services of an enslaved person;

"(C) An owner of a vessel or other means of transporting enslaved persons; or

"(D) A person dealing in the purchase, sale, or financing of the business of enslaved persons and slavery.

"(4) "Enslaver insurance policies" means a policy issued to or for the benefit of an enslaver to insure the enslaver against injury or the death of an enslaved person.

"(5) "Slavery era" means the period prior to 1865.".

TITLE IV. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

Sec. 401. Fiscal impact statement.

The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a).

Sec. 402. Effective date.

This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto) and a 30-day period of congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)).