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
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          |Author:   |Bigelow                                               |
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          |Version:  |4/21/2016                                             |
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          |Urgency:  |                       |Fiscal:      |Yes             |
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          |Consultant|Randy Chinn                                           |
          |:         |                                                      |
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          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 --