BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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Date of Hearing: May 2, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
ACR 50 (Garrick) - As Introduced: April 7, 2011
SUBJECT : San Diego-Coronado Bridge
SUMMARY : Designates the San Diego-Coronado Bridge as the Ronald
Reagan Coronado Bridge. Specifically, this bill :
1)Recounts the life and career of Ronald Reagan, 40th President
of the United States.
2)Designates the San Diego-Coronado Bridge as the Ronald Reagan
Coronado Bridge.
3)Requests the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to
determine the cost for appropriate signs showing the
designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
EXISTING LAW : Assigns Caltrans the responsibility of operating
and maintaining state highways. This includes the installation
and maintenance of highway signs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Ronald Reagan arrived in Hollywood in 1937 to pursue
a career in acting. He served as President of the Screen Actors
Guild from 1947 through 1952 and again in 1959. In 1957, the
film "Hellcats of the Navy," which featured Ronald Reagan and
his future wife Nancy David, was filmed in San Diego. It was
the only film that starred both Ronald and Nancy.
Mr. Reagan was elected Governor of California in 1966, serving
two terms until 1975. In 1980, he was elected President of the
United States and was reelected in 1984. Ronald Reagan won the
majority of votes in San Diego County in the 1966 and 1970
gubernatorial elections, as well as the 1980 and 1984
presidential elections. He ended both of his presidential
campaigns in San Diego. With these victories, Ronald Reagan
became the first and only person to serve as Governor of
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California and President of the United States.
San Diego has played host to many of the significant events that
marked the life of Ronald Reagan, including events at the El
Cortez Hotel, University of California, San Diego, the
Embarcadero, and the San Diego Concourse. On August 2, 1969,
Governor Reagan gave the dedication speech for the San
Diego-Coronado Bridge. He was quoted in 1988 stating that when
he was in San Diego, he felt he was with family and friends and
that he loved San Diego.
Committee concern : The longstanding practice of this committee
has been to approve highway-naming resolutions where the bill is
authored or co-authored by the legislator who represents the
affected area and where the proposed naming is supported by
community consensus. This bill does not appear to meet either
of these standards. The Coronado Bridge is in the 79th Assembly
District, while the bill author represents the 74th Assembly
District. Additionally, the San Diego Union-Tribune has both
editorialized against this naming and conducted a poll that
indicated substantial local opposition. Finally, while it is
certainly not a reliable indicator of public opinion, a Facebook
page entitled "I Do Not Want the Coronado Bridge Named After
Ronald Reagan" has 1,208 fans.
Technical amendment required : On page, 2, line 31, the name of
former President Reagan is misspelled.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
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