AB2599 requires businesses with more than $100 million in worldwide receipts that existed, or had existing predecessors, before the end of 1964 to search records and file a sworn affidavit concerning historical slavery-related transactions. It also creates a public database and adds compliance requirements for state contractors.

The California State Assembly passed AB2599 on August 26, 2026 by a vote of 60 to 13. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this legislation expands government power by forcing private businesses to investigate and report on transactions that may have occurred generations ago, regardless of whether the present company, owners, or employees had any involvement. Such retroactive regulatory burdens undermine the principles of individual responsibility, limited government, and equal justice under law. Government should punish actual violations of individual rights, not compel businesses to account for the conduct of predecessors from decades or even centuries earlier.