BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SCR 79
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: lieu
VERSION: 5/1/12
Analysis by: Eric Thronson FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: May 8, 2012
SUBJECT:
Honorable Jenny Oropeza Memorial Overcrossing
DESCRIPTION:
This resolution names a portion of State Highway Route 1 in Los
Angeles County the Honorable Jenny Oropeza Memorial
Overcrossing.
ANALYSIS:
The committee has adopted a policy regarding the naming of state
highways or structures. Under the policy, the committee will
consider only those resolutions that meet all of the following
criteria:
The person being honored must have provided extraordinary
public service or some exemplary contribution to the public
good and have a connection to the community where the highway
is located.
The person being honored must be deceased.
The naming must be done without cost to the state. Costs for
signs and plaques must be paid by local or private sources.
The author or co-author of the resolution must represent the
district in which the facility is located, and the resolution
must identify the specific highway segment or structure being
named.
The segment of highway being named must not exceed five miles
in length.
The proposed designation must reflect a community consensus
and be without local opposition.
SCR 79 (LIEU) Page 2
The proposed designation may not supersede an existing
designation unless the sponsor can document that a good faith
effort has uncovered no opposition to rescinding the prior
designation.
This resolution designates the portion of State Highway Route 1
that runs between Coil Street and the east side of the main
entrance to the Tesoro Refinery in Los Angeles County the
"Honorable Jenny Oropeza Memorial Overcrossing." The resolution
further requests that the Department of Transportation erect
appropriate signs upon receiving donations from non-state
sources to cover the costs.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this resolution as a tribute
to the life of Senator Jenny Oropeza.
2.Background on Senator Jenny Oropeza . Senator Jenny Oropeza
was born in 1957 in Montebello, California, the oldest of
three children of Victor and Sharon Oropeza. Her father, the
son of Mexican immigrants, was an accomplished Impressionist
painter. Senator Oropeza attended Cal State Long Beach, where
she was elected student body president and received her degree
in business.
Senator Oropeza was elected to the Long Beach school board in
1988, and then became the first Latino elected to the Long
Beach City Council in 1994. In 2000, she won a seat in the
state Assembly, where she served as chairwoman of the Assembly
Budget Committee. Senator Oropeza was elected to the state
Senate in 2006 and was chairwoman of the Senate Majority
Caucus, as well as the Revenue and Tax Committee. She also
served as a member of the Appropriations, Transportation,
Elections, Reapportionment, and Constitutional Amendments
Committees. Mrs. Oropeza died on October 20, 2010, less than
two weeks before the November election in which she
posthumously won reelection to the state Senate.
Since her death, Senator Oropeza has been recognized in
numerous ways. The Democratic Women's Study Club in Long
Beach posthumously awarded her the Political Leadership Award,
and since has renamed it the Jenny Oropeza Political
Leadership Award. The Long Beach Community Hispanic
Association (Centro CHA) named an award the Create Change:
Jenny Oropeza Community Service Excellence Award after the
SCR 79 (LIEU) Page 3
late Senator. The City of Long Beach named the community
center in Cesar E. Chavez Park the Jenny Oropeza Community
Center, and the Los Angeles Unified School District dedicated
the Jenny Oropeza Global Studies Academy at the Rancho
Dominguez Preparatory School to the late Senator.
3.Consistent with the committee's policy . This resolution is
consistent with all of the provisions of the committee's
policy on highway designations.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, May 2, 2012)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.