Commissioners studying reparations for the impact of New York's role in the slave trade want state lawmakers to give them more time and money in this year's budget to get the job done.

The nine members of the state's Community Commission on Reparations Remedies have about six months left to complete a $5 million study before submitting a report of recommendations to the Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul. 

The law to create the commission, which Hochul signed in 2023, gave the group one year to research the consequences of original enslavement, segregation and ongoing racism.

The group first convened last July, but President Seanelle Hawkins said the work has just begun — with many staffing positions unfilled due to the state's lengthy hiring process.

"In order to represent a quality report, we will need more time and most importantly, we will need the staff to do the day-to-day work," said Hawkins, the president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Rochester. "There are a lot of things that are expected of the commission and we want to make sure that what we contribute back to the Legislature is quality."

Hawkins said the commission's executive director will be hired and start work by the end of January — just in time for the next public hearings in Albany and Rochester.

The commission will hold its next public hearing here in Albany on Feb. 15, and a subsequent hearing in Rochester on March 3. The hearing locations and start times have not been finalized, but will be published on the commission's website.

Other hearings will be scheduled in Ithaca, Brooklyn and Utica. Hawkins said it will take commissioners at least six more months to travel the state and submit recommendations to the Legislature.

"It's going to take us at least an additional six months," Hawkins said. "It may take us more than that, but we certainly want to make sure that we have the time to do so."

Sen. James Sanders, a Queens Democrat, sponsored the law that created the commission, and told Spectrum News 1 the request for more time makes sense.

It took the state of California two years to study reparations and compile a final report, he said, adding the process still was met with hurdles.

"For us to do ours in a year is a bit presumptuous," the senator said Friday. "It's better that we move in a rational fashion."

Sanders and Assembly sponsor Michaelle Solages, who chairs the state's Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and & Asian Legislative Caucus, have started conversations with legislative leaders and Gov. Hochul's office about granting the commission more time and more money in the next budget.

Solages said additional funding for the commission will depend on how much of the group's $5 million has already been spent.

"We know this [work] is going to be under big scrutiny, so in order for us having a clear path, I do support them in providing them more time," she said.

Solages said it remains unclear if the law can be amended, or the Legislature will be required to pass new legislation.