The reparations bill supported by Vice President Kamala Harris would set up an independent commission similar to the one in California that called for sweeping changes to the criminal code in addition to monetary payouts to black Americans.

The Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act, which was reintroduced in April 2019 and cosponsored by then-senator Harris, would create a 13-member commission to "study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans." The commission would then offer their recommendations for "remedies" to Congress.