Commerce seeks proposals from those qualified and interested in participating in a project to conduct the Charles Mitchell and George Washington Bush Study on Reparative Action. This study will explore the historical injustices of U.S. chattel slavery and its enduring impacts on the direct descendants of victims. This study will focus on the legacy within Washington State laws, policies and economic structures. The study’s final deliverable will be a report due June 30, 2027. It will presenting findings and recommendations to the Legislature, the Governor, and Washington State’s congressional delegation.
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for this grant, applicants must be:
- Licensed to do business in Washington or submit a statement of commitment that it will become licensed in Washington within thirty (30) calendar days of being selected as the Apparent Successful contractor.
- A research team who contributed to three peer-reviewed publications or policy reports on reparations or economic valuation for descendants of enslaved people.
Required team expertise
- Valuation of uncompensated slave labor
- U.S. chattel slavery and reparations doctrine
- Genealogical research related to direct lineage tracing
- Reparative justice and public policy development
Required team composition and experience
- Experience producing peer-reviewed work or policy reports on economic reparations of enslaved persons.
- Includes an experienced genealogist.
- Capacity to perform economic valuation of historical injustices.
- Have a diverse team reflective of the study population’s lived experience.
- Experience consulting on public policy reform.
Proposals that do not clearly meet or exceed all minimum qualifications listed above are non-responsive and will not be evaluated.
Pre-Proposal Conference
A pre-proposal conference was held on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, at Noon p.m. PT.
- Watch the meeting on September 10, 2025 (on Zoom)
- Password: .4%cQ?@f
- Download the Reparations Study pre-conference powerpoint presentation (PDF)
Attendance is encouraged but not required. The conference will end once all questions have been addressed.
Commerce is only bound by its written responses. All questions from the conference or follow-up communications will be documented, answered in writing, and added to the FAQ.
2025 Funding update
Updated November 10, 2025: Commerce is revising the Reparations Study RFP schedule to allow additional time for scoring.
The Reparations Study RFP originally stated that Commerce would announce successful contractors and send out notifications from November 5 to November 10, 2025. This deadline has been pushed out to November 18, 2025 to ensure scorers have the necessary time to review all submissions equally.