2021-22 SESSION
Committee Policy on: RESOLUTIONS NAMING HIGHWAY OR STRUCTURES Policy: Resolutions proposing to name or designate state highways or highway structures should meet 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 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 measure must represent the district in which the facility is located, and the measure must identify the specific highway segment or structure being named.
5) A segment of highway being named for a specific individual or individuals 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.
8) The author’s office has contacted the Caltrans Legislative Affairs office at (916) 654-2397 to ensure that the highway segment and/or structure meet the requirements.
Discussion: Each legislative session members of the Senate and Assembly introduce resolutions proposing to name state highway segments or structures in honor of some individual, group or historical event. Over the years, an informal policy developed relative to the criteria for approval of such designations and memorials. No firm
legislative guidelines existed until 2004, however, which in some instances resulted in inconsistency or controversy over a proposed designation.
The establishment of basic guidelines for naming highways and structures serves to mitigate questions or controversy in advance of legislative consideration of naming resolutions. It also serves the Committee’s efficient consideration of such proposals and promotes fairness in determining whether a particular facility or segment is to be specially designated.
In 2020, the California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, State Parks Director Armando Quintero and Department of Transportation Director Toks Omishakin announced a series of actions to identify and redress discriminatory names of features attached to the State Parks and transportation systems. Agencies also will expand representation and increase transparency around a state committee tasked with recommending changes to geographic names in California. The moves come in the wake of a national conversation about the names of geographic features, markers and statues affiliated with the Civil War, genocide of Native Americans and other remnants of institutionalized discrimination. Consistent with these efforts, the Assembly Transportation Highway Naming guidelines encourage the introduction of resolutions that are sensitive to and promote racial and gender equity. For example, most of the highways currently are named for men which is not representative of the population distribution in California.
SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
SENATOR LENA GONZALEZ, CHAIR
2021-2022 Session
Committee Policy on: MEASURES NAMING HIGHWAYS OR STRUCTURES
Policy: The committee will not consider any measure proposing to name or designate a state highway or highway structure unless the measure meets the following conditions:
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 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 measure must represent the district in which the facility is located, and the measure must identify the specific highway segment or structure being named.
5. A segment of highway being named for a specific individual or individuals 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.
Discussion: Each legislative session members of the Senate and Assembly introduce measures proposing to name a state highway segment or structure in honor of some individual, group or historical event. Over the years, an informal policy developed relative to the criteria for approval of such designations and memorials. No firm guidelines existed, however, which in some instances resulted in inconsistency or controversy over a proposed designation.
For the last several sessions, the committee has adopted and successfully employed a policy establishing general criteria and guidelines for naming transportation facilities. The establishment of basic guidelines for naming highways and structures serves to mitigate questions or controversy in advance of legislative consideration of naming measures. It also serves the committee’s efficient consideration of such proposals and promotes fairness in determining whether a particular facility or segment is to be specially designated.
Adopted by the Senate Committee on Transportation on February 1, 2021.
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ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
NO. 71
ACR-71 Little Saigon Freeway. (2023-2024)
REVISED JULY 10, 2023
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced by Assembly Member Ta
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Vince Fong, Kalra, Stephanie Nguyen, Sanchez, Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Cervantes, Chen, Connolly, Megan Dahle, Davies, Dixon, Essayli, Flora, Mike Fong, Friedman, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Holden, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Low, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Santiago, Schiavo, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Wallis, Ward, Weber, Wilson, Wood, and Zbur)
(Coauthors: Senators Cortese, Newman, Ochoa Bogh, and Umberg) May 01, 2023
Relative to the Little Saigon Freeway.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 71, as introduced, Ta. Little Saigon Freeway.
This measure would designate the portion of Interstate Highway 405 from Bolsa Chica Road in the County of Orange to Magnolia Street in the County of Orange as the Little Saigon Freeway. The measure also would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing that special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs.
Fiscal Committee: yes
WHEREAS, In April 1975, the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, fell to the Vietnamese communists, and over the following 48 years, millions of Vietnamese have fled communist oppression in their homeland; and Home Bill Information California LawPublicationsOther ResourcesMy SubscriptionsMy Favorites WHEREAS, More than 2,500,000 Vietnamese refugees and immigrants became permanent residents and citizens of the United States, and over 800,000 resettled in California; and WHEREAS, In June 1988, Governor George Deukmejian recognized the importance of Little Saigon as a major cultural, social, and commercial center of southern California, and freeway signs officially designating the Vietnamese business district in the Cities of Westminster and Garden Grove as “Little Saigon” were unveiled; and WHEREAS, The signs gave official status to the title “Little Saigon,” recalling the name of the South Vietnamese capital more than a decade after it was changed to Ho Chi Minh City by the communist government; and WHEREAS, Little Saigon is the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam and is a destination for tourists and refugees from all over the world; and
WHEREAS, The designation of Little Saigon in the County of Orange represents the very first “Little Saigon” in the United States; and
WHEREAS, One can find all types of services and businesses in Little Saigon, including restaurants, supermarkets, medical clinics and centers, pharmacies, and law offices serving the Vietnamese American community, as well as other local and surrounding area residents in the County of Orange; and WHEREAS, Tết festivals and parades in Little Saigon celebrating the Vietnamese lunar new year have attracted thousands of participants; and
WHEREAS, Vietnamese voters in Little Saigon are now a significant voting bloc, and Vietnamese Americans are political leaders on the city councils of the Cities of Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, and Westminster, and on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, as well as on the school boards in school districts serving these areas; and
WHEREAS, The Vietnamese community in Little Saigon pioneered many political movements, demanding freedom in Vietnam and fighting against the oppression and dictatorship carried out by the totalitarian communist regime, whose oppression is the main reason for slow economic growth in Vietnam; and WHEREAS, The Vietnamese community has launched a campaign demanding the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience, who mainly ask that fundamental human rights be afforded to all of Vietnam’s citizens and seek the separation of powers and removal of the one-party system; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the portion of Interstate Highway 405 from Bolsa Chica Road in the County of Orange to Magnolia Street in the County of Orange as the Little Saigon Freeway; and be it further Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested 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; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution. ___________________
REVISIONS:
Heading—Line 3.
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