Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing s1

SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING Senator Jim Beall, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular

Bill No: ACR 54 Hearing Date: 6/16/2015 Author: Wood Version: 4/9/2015 Urgency: No Fiscal: Yes Consultant: Holly Glasen

SUBJECT: Kevin R. Ebbert SO1 Navy SEAL Memorial Highway

DIGEST: This resolution designates a specified portion of Highway 101 in the County of Humboldt near the City of Arcata as the Kevin R. Ebbert SO1 Navy SEAL Memorial Highway.

ANALYSIS:

The committee has adopted a policy regarding the naming of state highways or structures. Under the policy, the committee will consider only those resolutions that meet all of 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 or structure 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 resolution must represent the district in which the facility is located, and the resolution must identify the specific highway segment or structure being named.

5) The segment of highway being named must not exceed five miles in length.

6) The proposed designation must reflect a community consensus and be without local opposition. ACR 54 (Wood) Page 2 of 3

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.

This resolution designates that portion of Highway 101 in the County of Humboldt from post mile 85.35 to post mile 86.28 near the City of Arcata as the Kevin R. Ebbert SO1 Navy SEAL Memorial Highway. The resolution further requests that the Department of Transportation erect appropriate signs upon receiving donations from non-state sources to cover the costs.

COMMENTS:

Purpose. The author introduced this bill to honor the life and service of Special Warfare Operator 1st Class (SO1) Kevin R. Ebbert.

Background on Kevin R. Ebbert. SO1 Ebbert was born on January 23, 1980, grew up in Arcata, California, and graduated from Arcata High School. He enjoyed the outdoors, including backpacking, rafting, and later Ultimate Frisbee. He also had a passion for music and reading. SO1 Ebbert graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a bachelor’s degree in music, receiving honors in musical composition.

SO1 Ebbert later became an active duty Navy SEAL and corpsman. While leading his element on Saturday, November 24, 2012, in support of stability operations in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, his team was ambushed from above. SO1 Ebbert left the security of cover to radio for air support. In doing so he was killed by a sniper. His actions allowed ground and air personnel to support and retrieve the remaining team members with no other loss of life.

SO1 Ebbert was highly decorated by the United States Navy. He received all of the following awards: two Bronze Stars with “V” Device, the Purple Heart, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Navy Achievement Medal, the Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, two Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terror Service Medal, two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, the NATO ISAF Medal, the Expert Rifle Marksmanship Medal, and the Expert Pistol Marksmanship Medal.

SO1 Ebbert is survived by his wife Ursula, and his mother, sister, step-sisters, stepfather, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and grandfathers. ACR 54 (Wood) Page 3 of 3

Consistent with committee policy. This resolution is consistent with the provisions of the committee’s policy on highway and interchange designations.

Assembly Votes:

Floor: 78-0 Appr: 17-0 Trans: 15-0

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, June 10, 2015.)

SUPPORT:

None received

OPPOSITION:

None received

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