SCR 79 is a concurrent resolution that names the State Route 101 interchange at Indianola Cutoff Undercrossing in Humboldt County as the Brad Mettam Memorial Interchange. The resolution honors Brad Mettam’s career in public service, especially his more than 20 years with Caltrans, along with his community leadership and volunteer work. It also notes his death in 2024 and frames the designation as a memorial tribute to his life and service.
The measure does not change substantive transportation policy or create a new program. Instead, it makes a ceremonial designation of a specific highway interchange and directs that copies of the resolution be transmitted to the Department of Transportation and the author. It also asks Caltrans to determine the cost of appropriate signs and to erect them only if nonstate donations cover the cost, limiting any direct fiscal impact to administrative coordination and sign installation contingent on outside funding.
Impact
SCR 79 amends no existing statutes and does not impose a mandatory state expenditure. Its legal effect is to add a memorial highway designation for the State Route 101 interchange at Indianola Cutoff Undercrossing in Humboldt County, with signage to be installed only if donated funds are sufficient. The practical impact is on Caltrans and local stakeholders involved in arranging and funding the signs, while the broader effect is commemorative rather than regulatory.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been viewed very favorably and without controversy. It moved through the Legislature on consent calendars and passed each recorded vote unanimously, including 13-0, 38-0, 16-0, and 75-0. The lack of committee testimony in the provided record and the unanimous votes suggest broad bipartisan support for honoring Brad Mettam’s service and legacy.
Contention
No notable opposition or substantive policy dispute appears in the available record. The only practical issue implied by the resolution is the cost and installation of signage, but the bill addresses that by conditioning erection of the signs on donations from nonstate sources. As a result, any potential concern about state costs was minimized, and the measure remained a straightforward memorial designation.
Enacting the consumer inflation reduction and tax fairness act and exempting the portion of a credit card transaction constituting a tax or gratuity from assessment of the fee charged by the card issuer.