The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA exempts from its requirements various projects, including, but not limited to, housing projects that meet certain requirements and activities and approvals related to certain prison facilities. This bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA any activity or approval necessary for the completion of the Gypsum Canyon Veterans Cemetery in the County of Orange if specified conditions are met. To the extent that a local agency would be required to determine whether an activity or approval qualifies for this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would repeal this provision on January 1, 2030. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Gypsum Canyon Veterans Cemetery in the County of Orange. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
ACR 111 designates September 25, 2025, as Military Sexual Trauma Awareness Day. This ceremonial resolution symbolically highlights issues affecting military personnel and veterans who experience sexual trauma. It does not create new laws or alter existing policies, but aims to raise public awareness about this issue. The measure directly affects the public and military community through its observance.
This measure would proclaim the week of September 15, 2025, to September 21, 2025, inclusive, as Military and Veterans Suicide Prevention Awareness Week in California.
SCR 28 designates September 28, 2025, as Gold Star Mothers' and Families' Day in California. This ceremonial resolution honors families who have lost a member in military service. It does not create new laws or alter existing policies; it simply recognizes these families through a formal state designation. The measure directly affects California residents by providing a designated day for public acknowledgment of Gold Star families' sacrifices.
This measure would urge the United States Congress to pass the Major Richard Star Act to ensure veterans with disabilities receive their full United States Department of Defense retirement pay and United States Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation without offset.
This measure would redesignate a portion of State Highway 198, as described, in the County of Tulare as the Brigadier General Charles Young Memorial Highway. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to update the signs identifying this highway, as specified.
Existing law requires the Department of Parks and Recreation to issue a park pass for free use of all park facilities in the state park system to a veteran of war in which the United States has been, or may be, engaged, who is a resident of this state, who presents to the department proof of a disability, proof of being held captive as a prisoner of war, or proof of being a recipient of a Congressional Medal of Honor, and proof of an honorable discharge from service. This bill would require an eligible Gold Star Family member, as defined, upon presentation of proof to the department, to be issued a pass for use of all facilities, including boat launching facilities, in units of the state park system.
The Small Business Procurement and Contract Act permits a state agency or the California State University to award a contract for goods, services, or information technology with an estimated value between $5,000 and $250,000 to a certified small business, including a microbusiness and a disabled veteran business enterprise, without complying with specified competitive bidding requirements. This bill would increase the maximum estimated value of a contract for goods, services, or information technology awarded pursuant to the act from $250,000 to $350,000. Commencing January 1, 2028, and biennially thereafter, the bill would require the Director of General Services to conduct a review of that maximum value, and would authorize the director to adjust that value to reflect changes in the California Consumer Price Index.
Senate Resolution 65 honors Private Mohammed Kahn, an Afghan immigrant who served in the Union Army during the Civil War (1861-1865) and became one of the few Muslim veterans to receive a federal pension. The resolution commemorates his military service, including battles like Malvern Hill and Spotsylvania, as well as his resilience amid racial and religious barriers, such as being misidentified as a Blackfoot Indian and wrongly arrested. It directs the Secretary of the Senate to distribute copies to Afghan American cultural organizations, Muslim American institutions, and Civil War historical societies to preserve and share Kahn’s story for future generations.
This measure would designate the interchange on State Route 101 at Indianola Cutoff Undercrossing in the County of Humboldt as the Brad Mettam Memorial Interchange. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the cost, erect those signs.
