Bradford Bill Returning Bruce’s Beach Sails Out of Senate Committee with Bipartisan Support

SACRAMENTO ­– Senate Bill 796 April 27, passed out of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Water with strong bipartisan support. This bill, authored by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), will allow the county of Los Angeles to return the beachfront property known as Bruce’s Beach to the descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce, from whom it was wrongfully taken in 1929.

“Last year, we passed Dr. Shirley Weber’s legislation that created a Task Force on Reparations. As a member of that Task Force and the author of this bill, let me tell you: SB 796 is what reparations looks like,” said Senator Bradford. “This bill recognizes that if you can inherit generational wealth in this country, you can inherit generational debts too. In the case of Willa and Charles Bruce, the City of Manhattan Beach, the County, and the State owe a debt that has been compounding for nearly 100 years. I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their clear support of this bill. When it comes to addressing systemic racism, we all need to get involved. I appreciate my fellow legislators for doing the right thing.”

On April 20, 2021, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved motions by Supervisor Janice Hahn and Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell to sponsor SB 796 and to begin the County’s work to return Bruce’s Beach to its rightful owners.

SB 796 will now go to the Senate Appropriations Committee before coming to the Senate Floor to be voted on by the full Senate. The bill includes an urgency clause, which means the bill will go into effect immediately upon being signed into law by the Governor.