ACR 112 is an Assembly Concurrent Resolution that formally recognizes September 2025 as Deaf Awareness Month in California. The text collects historical and statistical “whereas” clauses about the World Federation of the Deaf and prevalence estimates, celebrates contributions of Deaf and hard-of-hearing Californians, and urges visibility, inclusion, and awareness.
The resolution is ceremonial: it does not appropriate funds, change rights under state or federal law, or create new agency duties. Its practical effect is symbolic recognition and a transmission instruction directing the Chief Clerk to send copies of the resolution to the author for distribution — a signal to advocacy groups and public institutions rather than a regulatory trigger.
At a Glance
What It Does
Records a formal, nonbinding legislative recognition of Deaf Awareness Month by adopting multiple whereas clauses about Deaf history and prevalence and concluding with a resolved clause declaring September 2025 as the observance. The resolution also instructs the Chief Clerk to transmit copies of the document to the author for distribution.
Who It Affects
Primary audiences are the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, Deaf advocacy and service organizations, educators and cultural institutions that stage observances, and legislative offices that may use the resolution for outreach. It does not impose compliance obligations on private entities or state agencies.
Why It Matters
Ceremonial recognitions shape public calendars, provide a legislative imprimatur for outreach and programming, and can amplify advocacy campaigns. Because the resolution is symbolic and unfunded, its real-world impact will depend on follow-up by community groups, educators, and agencies that choose to act on the visibility it creates.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The resolution is short and procedural. It opens with a string of “whereas” clauses that explain the purpose of Deaf Awareness Month, trace its origins to the World Federation of the Deaf’s International Week of the Deaf (1958) and the later month-long observance (1997), and repeat prevalence figures cited from the World Health Organization and state estimates.
Those clauses set the frame: this is a visibility and culture-focused observance rather than a policy reform package.
Following the findings, the single substantive operative line resolves that the Legislature recognizes September 2025 as Deaf Awareness Month in California. The document ends with a routine administrative direction that the Chief Clerk transmit copies of the resolution to the author for distribution.
The resolution explicitly carries no fiscal committee referral and makes no statutory changes.Because ACR 112 is a concurrent resolution (adopted by both houses), it operates as a legislative expression of sentiment. It creates no enforceable duties, does not direct state agencies to alter programs, and contains no appropriation.
The resolution’s practical value will come from how advocacy organizations, schools, local governments, and legislative offices use the recognition to plan events, communications, or voluntary initiatives.One detail to note: the resolution recognizes a month that occurred before the bill’s filing date (it designates September 2025 but was filed February 25, 2026). That makes the action retrospective — an official acknowledgment of a past observance rather than a forward-looking designation.
Retrospective recognitions are common for ceremonial resolutions, but they underscore the bill’s symbolic purpose rather than operational change.
The Five Things You Need to Know
ACR 112 is a concurrent resolution — a formal, nonbinding legislative recognition that does not create statutory rights, duties, or funding.
The text cites the World Federation of the Deaf’s 1958 International Week of the Deaf and identifies 1997 as the year the observance expanded to a month.
The resolution repeats prevalence figures: it cites the World Health Organization’s estimate of roughly 466 million people worldwide who are deaf or hard of hearing and references an estimate that three million Californians identify as deaf or hard of hearing.
The bill contains no fiscal committee referral and explicitly carries no appropriation — the Legislature flagged no direct budgetary impact.
The resolution directs the Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies to the author for appropriate distribution, a procedural step to put the document in circulation with advocacy groups and stakeholders.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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History, purpose, and statistics setting context
This opening series of clauses explains why the Legislature is considering the resolution: it describes Deaf Awareness Month’s goals (visibility, inclusion), traces its roots to the World Federation of the Deaf, and supplies prevalence statistics from the World Health Organization and a California estimate. Practically, these clauses frame the observance as cultural and educational rather than regulatory — they justify recognition by listing background facts and claimed impacts.
Formal legislative recognition
The operative provision contains a single declarative line that the Legislature recognizes September 2025 as Deaf Awareness Month in California. As a resolved clause in a concurrent resolution, this is a statement of legislative sentiment: it signals attention and support but does not change law, create entitlements, or obligate agencies to act.
Transmittal instruction to the Chief Clerk
The resolution concludes by instructing the Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies to the author for distribution. This is a routine administrative step used to circulate the resolution text to community groups, media, or other interested parties — effectively enabling outreach that may follow the symbolic recognition.
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Who Benefits
- Deaf and hard-of-hearing advocacy organizations — gain an official legislative recognition they can cite in outreach, fundraising, and programming to increase visibility and attract partners.
- Schools, museums, and cultural institutions that plan programming — receive a legislative imprimatur they can use to justify events, educational modules, or public exhibits focused on Deaf history and culture.
- Legislators and legislative staff engaged in disability policy — obtain a low-cost tool for constituent outreach and relationship-building with the Deaf community without new legislative drafting.
Who Bears the Cost
- Legislative administrative offices (Chief Clerk) — incur minimal administrative time and copying/distribution costs to circulate the resolution, though the fiscal note indicates no committee-level fiscal impact.
- State and local agencies and institutions that feel political pressure to act — may experience indirect costs if constituents or advocacy groups expect programming or outreach in response to the recognition, but the resolution does not fund these activities.
- Advocacy groups that take on follow-up activities — bear the operational costs of turning symbolic recognition into events, education, or services, since the resolution provides no funding or mandates.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central tension is between symbolic recognition and substantive change: the Legislature can raise visibility for the Deaf community through ceremonial observances at very low fiscal cost, but without accompanying funding, mandates, or programmatic direction, such recognition may improve awareness while leaving concrete accessibility gaps unaddressed.
ACR 112 is a symbolic instrument: its text signals support and raises a public profile, but it does not alter legal obligations or create funding streams. That creates a familiar implementation gap — visibility without a budget or mandatory agency action.
Organizations seeking concrete improvements in accessibility, interpretation services, or program funding will still need statutory vehicles or budgetary proposals to secure resources.
The resolution also uses statistics and historical references to justify recognition; however, it does not identify the data sources’ methodology or the basis for the California prevalence figure. Policymakers and practitioners should be cautious about treating the cited numbers as precise baseline demographics for program planning.
Finally, the retroactive designation of September 2025 — recognized after the month passed — highlights the resolution’s commemorative nature and raises the practical question of how actors will use a past observance to galvanize future activity.
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