ALBANY – State lawmakers are slated to pass legislation by the end of the week to examine whether black New Yorkers deserve reparations for slavery and other historical wrongs.

The bill would establish a nine-member commission to offer non-binding suggestions on how cash payments, “laws, policies, programs” or other approaches could address racial inequality.

“Reparations is more than just about compensation,” Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Valley Stream), who is sponsoring the bill, told The Post.

“I think New York is in a unique spot to really define the conversation around reparations and make sure that it’s not just about compensation, but really about acknowledgment and reconciliation of chattel slavery and its legacies.”

The proposal pushes the Empire State toward the center of a national debate over reparations despite the potential political dangers to Democrats following similar efforts in places like California.

Earlier this year, a San Francisco panel recommended black residents get individual payouts of $5 million while a California state task force floated a minimum of $365,000 per person.

“Regardless of the merits of the legislation, National Republicans are going to pounce on this and make it a bogeyman in their war on everything related to addressing historical wrongs. But they will just call it wokeism,” an Albany insider said.

“It’s a gift to Republican culture warriors.”

Both chambers are expected to pass the bill by Friday before sending it to Gov. Kathy Hochul before the end of the year.

“I would have to review it, consider it, think about it,” Hochul said Wednesday when asked by The Post whether she might get behind the idea of reparations for black New Yorkers.

State Sen. James Sanders, Jr., who is carrying the bill in his chamber, did not provide comment.

There are numerous examples of how Black New Yorkers have suffered even after New York abolished slavery in 1828 – just 37 years before it was banned nationwide as the Civil War wound down in 1865.

For starters, Central Park sits on a former black community called Seneca Village whose descendants are still demanding acknowledgment that their land was unfairly taken through eminent domain in the 1850s.

Even today, black New Yorkers from Buffalo to Suffolk face discrimination when it comes to securing mortgages because “redlining” deems minority neighborhoods as too risky for loans, according to a 2022 state report.

“The consequences of slavery in New York State is not an echo of the past, but can still be observed in daily life. Systemic racism has cemented a legacy of generational poverty, and we still see today: instances of voter suppression, housing discrimination, biased policing, food apartheid, and disproportionate rates of incarceration,” the legislation states.

And the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan, which contains roughly 15,000 skeletons of enslaved and free Black New Yorkers from the 17th and 18th centuries, highlights the sheer scale of slavery in New York for roughly half its history.

But Republicans say the proposal will divide New Yorkers while doing little to address the effects of racism.

“I know the recommendations of this commission will be non-binding, but I don’t see this being helpful to race relations in any way. Writing checks on the basis of race would inherently punish millions of New Yorkers for historical wrongs that they had nothing to do with,” Assemblyman Jarrett Gandolfo (R-Bay Shore) said.

Critics also point to the costs of a reparation program.

“New York doesn’t need a commission to tell us that slavery was wrong,” Assemblyman Matt Slater (R-Yorktown) said. “We should not follow California’s path by creating a task force that produced unconstitutional policies at an $800 billion price tag.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has refused to endorse the findings of the state panel following criticism of the high cost.

Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Fulton) dismissed the legislation an attempt by New York Democrats to “out-liberal” their counterparts in other states.

“This is an unreasonable and unworkable measure, opposed by the vast majority of Americans but still being pushed by radical New York Democrats,” he said.

But state Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn) said critics ought to give the commission a chance considering how experts, who would be appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, might have worthy ideas on addressing the legacies of slavery and systemic racism in New York.

“Given how much of New York’s wealth was generated by the slave economy, and that New York remains one of the most segregated states in the nation, it is only right that New York be among the first states to repair the extraordinary damage done to the Black community,” he said.

“This commission is an opportunity for New York to practice the kind of restorative justice that allows for real healing.”