Bill Text: CA AB2698 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2698

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Route 405: Little Saigon Freeway.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Enrolled) 2024-08-26 - Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 76. Noes 0.). [AB2698 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2698-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly May 16, 2024

Amended IN Assembly March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2698

Introduced by Assembly Member Ta

February 14, 2024

An act to amend Section 615 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to highways.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2698, as amended, Ta. Route 405: Little Saigon Freeway.

Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with full possession and control of all state highways. Existing law describes the authorized routes in the state highway system, including that for Route 405 from Route 5 near El Toro to Route 5 near San Fernando.

This bill would specify that Route 405 from Bolsa Chica Road to Magnolia Street in the County of Orange shall be known and designated as the Little Saigon Freeway, and would require the department 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, as specified.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

~~(a)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.~~
~~(b)More than~~

(a) Since April 1975, when the capital of South Vietnam fell, 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.

~~(c)~~

(b) 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 giving 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.~~ City.

~~(d)~~

(c) Little Saigon is the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam and is a destination for tourists and refugees from all over the world.

~~(e)~~

(d) The designation of Little Saigon in the County of Orange represents the very first “Little Saigon” in the United States.

(f)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.
~~(g)Tết festivals and parades in Little Saigon celebrating the Vietnamese lunar new year have attracted thousands of participants.~~
(h)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.
(i)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.
(j)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.

SEC. 2.

Section 615 of the Streets and Highways Code is amended to read:

615.

(a) Route 405 is from Route 5 near El Toro to Route 5 near San Fernando.

(b) (1) Route 405 from Bolsa Chica Road to Magnolia Street in the County of Orange shall be known and designated as the Little Saigon Freeway.

(2) The department shall determine the cost of appropriate signs, consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system, showing special designation described in paragraph (1) and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the cost, shall erect those signs.