BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING Senator Jim Beall, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: ACR 174 Hearing Date: 8/9/2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Bigelow | |----------+------------------------------------------------------| |Version: |4/21/2016 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: | |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant|Randy Chinn | |: | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Buffalo Soldiers Memorial Highway DIGEST: This resolution designates a portion of State Highway Route 41 as the Buffalo Soldiers Memorial highway. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 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. ACR 174 (Bigelow) Page 2 of ? 5)The segment of highway being named must not exceed five miles 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 a portion of State Highway Route 41, from post mile 1.841 at the Mariposa-Madera county line to post mile 4.918 at the entrance to Yosemite National Park, as the Buffalo Soldiers Memorial Highway. The Department of Transportation is requested to determine the cost of erecting the appropriate signs, and upon receiving donations from non-state sources covering that cost, to erect those signs. COMMENTS: In 1866, the United States Congress created six segregated regiments that were ultimately consolidated into four African-American regiments: the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry. African-American regiments had fought in the wars with Native Americans, and these soldiers were eventually given the name Buffalo Soldiers by the Cheyenne and other Plains Indians. The U.S. Army was the official administrator of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks between 1891 and 1913. Approximately 500 Buffalo Soldiers served in those parks with duties ranging from evicting poachers and thieves to extinguishing forest fires to overseeing construction of roads, trails, and other infrastructure. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, 8/3/16.) SUPPORT: ACR 174 (Bigelow) Page 3 of ? Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club of Fairfield, CA Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club, South Bay, CA Texas Buffalo Soldier Association One individual OPPOSITION: None received -- END --