BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: ACR 1 Hearing Date: 6/9/2015
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|Author: |Levine |
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|Version: |4/23/2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Christine Hochmuth |
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SUBJECT: Robin Williams Tunnel
DIGEST: This resolution designates the Waldo Tunnel on State
Highway Route (SR) 101 in the County of Marin as the Robin
Williams Tunnel.
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:
1)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
or structure is located.
2)The person being honored must be deceased.
3)The naming must be done without cost to the state. Costs for
signs and plaques must be paid by local or private sources.
4)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.
5)The segment of highway being named must not exceed five miles
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in length.
6)The proposed designation must reflect a community consensus
and be without local opposition.
7)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 Waldo Tunnel on State Highway
Route 101 between postmile 0.885 and postmile 1.074 in the
County of Marin as the Robin Williams Tunnel. 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 to honor the
life and charitable contributions of Robin Williams.
2)Background on honoree. Robin McLaurin Williams was born in
Chicago, Illinois, on July 21, 1951, to his mother Laurie
McLaurin and father Robert Fitzgerald Williams. At 16 years
of age Robin Williams moved with his family to Tiburon,
California. He attended Redwood High School in Larkspur,
California, and studied theater at the College of Marin in
Kentfield, California. Robin Williams received a full
scholarship to the Juilliard School in New York City where he
pursued acting and comedy.
Robin Williams began his career as a comedian doing stand-up
comedy shows in the San Francisco Bay area and continued his
work in Los Angeles, where he developed his improvisational
style as an actor and a stand-up comedian. He then appeared
on several television programs and starred in "Mork and Mindy"
in the late 1970s to early 1980s. His film credits include
his role as radio disc jockey Adrian Cronauer in "Good
Morning, Vietnam" in 1987, and teacher John Keating in "Dead
Poets Society" in 1989. Both roles earned him lead actor
Academy Award recognition. In 1997, Robin Williams was voted
funniest man alive by Entertainment Weekly. The next year, in
1998, Entertainment Weekly listed him as one of the 25 Best
Actors of all time. In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best
Comedy Album. In 2005, Robin Williams received the Cecil B.
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DeMille Award at the Golden Globe Awards.
Robin Williams' charity work included health care, human
rights, education, environmental protection, the arts, and
much more. He supported the following foundations and their
work: Aid Still Required, American Foundation for AIDS
Research, Amnesty International, Andre Agassi Foundation for
Education, Augie's Quest, Bob Woodruff Foundation, Celebrity
Fight Night Foundation, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation,
Comic Relief, David Foster Foundation, Doctors Without
Borders, Dogs Deserve Better, Dream Foundation, Elizabeth
Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, International Medical Corps,
Keep Memory Alive, LIVESTRONG, Love Our Children USA, Luke
Neuhedel Foundation, Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center, MusiCares,
Prince's Rainforests Project, Prince's Trust, Robert F.
Kennedy Memorial, Smile Train, St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital, and UNICEF.
Robin Williams died on August 11, 2014, in his home in
Paradise Cay, Tiburon, California, as a result of suicide
after suffering from addiction and mental illness.
3)Consistent with committee policy. The segment of highway to
be named is popularly known as the Waldo Tunnel. However,
there has never been an official designation. Therefore, this
resolution is consistent with committee policy that the
proposed designation may not supersede an existing
designation.
Assembly Votes:
Floor:77-0
Appr: 16-0
Trans: 16-0
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 3, 2015.)
SUPPORT:
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None received
OPPOSITION:
None received
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