BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1652 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 2, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 1652 (Olsen and Valadao) - As Amended: March 19, 2012 Policy Committee: RulesVote:10-0 Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill authorizes the construction of a California American Portuguese Veterans Memorial in Capitol Park. Specifically, this bill: 1)Authorizes the American Portuguese Club, in consultation with the Department of General Services (DGS), to plan and construct a memorial in the Capitol Park. 2)Stipulates that the costs for planning, constructing, and maintaining the memorial are to be funded exclusively from donations to the club. 3)Stipulates that construction of the memorial shall not commence until the master plan for Capitol Park is adopted by the Joint Committee on Rules, and the committee and the Department of Finance have determined that sufficient funding is available to construct and maintain the memorial. FISCAL EFFECT No direct state costs. DGS's costs will be covered by donations sufficient for planning, construction, and maintenance. COMMENTS 1)Purpose . According to the author, while several memorials in the Capitol Park honor veterans of specific wars, heritage and special honors received during service, American Portuguese veterans are without a memorial to properly honor the service and sacrifices given by these men and women. AB 1652 Page 2 2)Background . To date, legislatively approved memorials include, but are not limited to: California Veterans Memorial, California Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Peace Officers Memorial, World Peace Rose Garden, Mexican-Americans Veterans Memorial, Firefighters Memorial, Spanish-American War Memorial, bronze seals commemorating the California Indians and Spanish/Mexican settlers, Search-and-Rescue Memorial, Crime Victims Memorial, and a Purple Heart Memorial. 3)Moratorium : Joint Rules Committee staff is working with DGS to develop a master plan for the Capitol Park grounds. Until the plan is developed, DGS has instituted an "unofficial" moratorium on additional memorials in Capitol Park, which is supported by staff of the Joint Rules Committee. Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081