California Assembly adopts apology to Native Americans, monarch protection week and measures on SNAP, Little Saigon and nuisance abatement

The California State Assembly on Wednesday adopted a slate of resolutions and bills addressing historic injustices to Native Americans, monarch conservation, food assistance and local enforcement tools.

Assembly Joint Resolution 18, introduced by Assemblymember Ramos, formally acknowledges and apologizes for the legislature's historic actions and failures toward California's first peoples and was adopted by roll call vote, 68-0. The Assembly also approved Assembly Concurrent Resolution 103, designating July 14'18, 2025 as California Western Monarch Protection Week, and Assembly Concurrent Resolution 71 to name a portion of U.S. 101 in Santa Clara County the "Little Saigon Freeway." The house passed Senate Joint Resolution 3 urging Congress to prevent cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and approved Senate Bill 757 to allow local governments additional options to collect nuisance-abatement costs.

The measures combined symbolic, conservation and policy responses. Supporters said AJR 18 is a first step toward truth and healing; backers of the monarch resolution cited steep population declines and the need for habitat protection; SNAP proponents warned that proposed federal cuts would deepen food insecurity; and SB 757 was presented as a tool for cities and counties to recover abatement costs when property owners fail to address public-health hazards.

Assembly Joint Resolution 18

Assemblymember James Ramos introduced AJR 18 as an official apology and acknowledgment of past legislative actions that harmed Native American communities. "We can never fix the wrongdoings of the past. But…