BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1652
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Date of Hearing: April 19, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
Nancy Skinner, Chair
AB 1652 (Olsen and Valadao) - As Amended: March 19, 2012
SUBJECT : California American Portuguese Veterans Memorial.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the construction and maintenance of a
memorial in the Capitol Historic Region to honor California
American Portuguese veterans. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Department of General Services (DGS) in
consultation with California American Portuguese Club
Incorporated to be responsible for planning and construction
of a memorial to honor California American Portuguese
veterans.
2)Establishes a California American Portuguese Veterans Memorial
Committee to identify an appropriate location for the memorial
in the Capitol Historic Region within the existing boundary of
the Capitol Veterans Memorial and review a memorial design, in
consultation with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
3)Requires funds for the planning, construction, and maintenance
of the memorial be provided through private donations to the
American Portuguese Club Incorporated.
4)Prohibits the construction of the memorial until the master
plan for the State Capitol Park is approved by the Joint
Committee on Rules and the Joint Committee on Rules and the
Department of Finance have determined that sufficient private
funding is available to construct and maintain the memorial.
EXISTING LAW requires DGS to oversee the buildings and grounds
of the state, including the State Capitol.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the bill : According to the author, several
memorials in the Capitol Park honor veterans of specific wars,
heritage and special honors received during service.
California American Portuguese Veterans are without a memorial
AB 1652
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to properly honor the service and sacrifices given by these
men and women.
2)Background : To date, legislatively approved memorials
include, but are not limited to: California Veterans
Memorial, California Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Peace Officers
Memorial, World Peace Rose Garden, Mexican-Americans Veterans
Memorial, Firefighters Memorial, Spanish-American War
Memorial, bronze seals commemorating the California Indians
and Spanish/Mexican settlers, Search-and-Rescue Memorial,
Crime Victims Memorial, and a Purple Heart Memorial.
3)Moratorium : Joint Rules Committee staff is working with DGS
to develop a master plan for the Capitol Park grounds. Until
the plan is developed, DGS has instituted an "unofficial"
moratorium on additional memorials in Capitol Park, which is
supported by staff of the Joint Rules Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Anna McCabe / RLS. / (916) 319-2800