BILL ANALYSIS �
ACR 117
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
ACR 117 (Achadjian)
As Amended March 29, 2012
Majority vote
TRANSPORTATION 13-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Bonnie Lowenthal, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Jeffries, Achadjian, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Blumenfield, Bonilla, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Buchanan, Eng, Furutani, | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| |Galgiani, Logue, Miller, | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| |Portantino, Solorio | |Mitchell, Nielsen, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Norby |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Designates the east and westbound State Route (SR) 46
and 101 interchanges as the California Highway Patrol Officer
Brett J. Oswald Memorial Interchange. Specifically, this bill :
1)Recounts the life and career of Brett Oswald, a California
Highway Patrol (CHP) officer who lost his life in the line of
duty.
2)Designates the eastbound and westbound interchanges at SR 101
and SR 46 in Paso Robles as the California Highway Patrol
Officer Brett J. Oswald Memorial Interchange.
3)Requests the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to determine the cost of appropriate signs
consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway
system showing this special designation and, upon receiving
donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the cost,
to erect those signs.
EXISTING LAW assigns Caltrans the responsibility to operate and
maintain state highways. This includes the installation and
maintenance of highway signs.
ACR 117
Page 2
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor State Highway Account costs to Caltrans that
will be covered by donations.
COMMENTS : Brett James Oswald graduated from the CHP Academy in
1990 as a flight officer, and was assigned to the Santa Fe
Springs Area Office. He subsequently served as a traffic
officer in the King City Area Office, a flight officer in the
Paso Robles Coastal Division Air Operations Office, and a
traffic officer in the Templeton Area Office. Officer Oswald
proudly served a total of 20 years and one month as a California
Highway Patrol Officer.
Officer Oswald was killed in the line of duty on June 27, 2010,
in Paso Robles when he was struck by a vehicle while waiting for
a tow truck on the side of the road. He had responded to a
report that a vehicle had hit a tree on South River Road in Paso
Robles. After investigating, Officer Oswald determined that no
accident had occurred and that the vehicle was abandoned. He
called for a tow truck and was waiting next to his patrol car,
when a passing vehicle crossed the double yellow lines and
struck the patrol car. The force of the impact pushed the
patrol car into him. He was transported to a local hospital
where he later died from his injuries.
Related legislation: ACR 100 (Bonnie Lowenthal) combines a
number of highway-namings into one bill. AB 1645 (Norby) of
2012 would have transferred authority for highway-namings from
the Legislature to the California Transportation Commission.
ACR 100 is on the Assembly floor. AB 1645 failed in the
Assembly Transportation Committee. The author of ACR 117 has
not included the proposed Oswald Memorial Interchange naming in
ACR 100 since this particular memorialization needs to be
approved in an expedited fashion in order for the signs to be
produced in time for a scheduled (June 27) ceremony in memory of
Officer Oswald.
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0003320
ACR 117
Page 3