Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 38 asks — but does not require — the chief administrator of each public building or facility owned by the State, a county, or a municipality to display the 9/11 Remembrance Flag on September 11 each year and to adopt any procedures needed for its display. The measure also expressly permits public officials or facility administrators to accept donated 9/11 Remembrance Flags for that purpose.
Practically, the resolution is symbolic: it creates no funding, no enforcement mechanism, and no new statutory obligations. Still, it signals a statewide policy preference that could prompt local administrators to create display protocols, accept donated material, and address logistics such as procurement, storage, and precedence with existing flag rules — matters that facilities managers, municipal attorneys, and event planners will need to resolve locally.
At a Glance
What It Does
The resolution encourages chief administrators of state, county, and municipal public buildings to display a 9/11 Remembrance Flag on September 11 and to prescribe procedures for doing so. It also permits public officials or administrators to accept donations of one or more 9/11 Remembrance Flags for display.
Who It Affects
Chief administrators, facilities managers, city and county clerks, municipal attorneys, and the vendors or organizations that supply commemorative flags are the primary operational stakeholders. Families of victims, veterans groups, and memorial organizations are the principal intended beneficiaries of increased public commemoration.
Why It Matters
Because it is a concurrent resolution rather than a statute, it imposes no legal duties or spending obligations, but it creates an expectation that local governments may adopt display protocols. That expectation can trigger modest administrative work, procurement decisions, and coordination with existing flag precedence and public-building policies.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
ACR 38 is an Assembly Concurrent Resolution asking California’s public facilities to mark September 11 each year with a 9/11 Remembrance Flag. The measure is phrased as encouragement — it tells the chief administrator of each public building or facility owned by the State, a county, or a municipality to display the flag on September 11 and to ‘‘prescribe procedures necessary for its display.’’ That language gives local officials latitude to decide how and where the flag will be flown, who will be responsible for it, and what rules will govern its use.
The resolution separately authorizes public officials or facility administrators to accept donated 9/11 Remembrance Flags. That permission removes a potential barrier to receiving memorial flags from individuals, nonprofit groups, or vendors, but it does not set rules for acceptance, vetting, storage, maintenance, or disposal.
Agencies that accept donations will need to rely on existing local procurement, gift-acceptance, and property-control policies unless they adopt new procedures under the encouragement to ‘‘prescribe procedures.’’Because the measure is a concurrent resolution, it does not appropriate funds, impose penalties, or amend the California Codes. It includes an administrative step directing the Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies to the author for distribution.
The combination of permissive language and the donation clause means the most immediate effects are operational: facilities managers and municipal staff will face choices about flag design standards, display location and timing, storage, replacement cycles, and how commemoration should interact with U.S. flag protocols and local policies.In short, ACR 38 creates an articulated preference for commemorative displays on September 11 and clears a path for donated flags to be used in public spaces. It leaves the concrete rules — how the flag looks, where it is flown relative to other flags, who pays for it, and what procedures govern donated material — to each administering authority to decide.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The resolution encourages, but does not require, display of a 9/11 Remembrance Flag on September 11 each year by chief administrators of public buildings owned by the State, counties, or municipalities.
It directs those chief administrators to ‘‘prescribe procedures necessary for [the flag's] display,’’ delegating implementation details to local officials rather than setting statewide rules.
The text explicitly permits any public official or chief administrator to accept donations of one or more 9/11 Remembrance Flags for display at public buildings.
ACR 38 contains no appropriation, enforcement mechanism, or penalties — it is a nonbinding concurrent resolution and does not create new statutory obligations.
The resolution instructs the Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies to the author for distribution, a clerical step to publicize the measure rather than to fund or enforce it.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Statement of purpose and symbolic intent
The whereas clause frames the 9/11 Remembrance Flag as ‘‘a symbol of our State’s concern and commitment’’ to remembering lives lost on September 11, 2001. Practically, this is the rhetorical foundation for a commemorative policy; it does not create operational guidance but explains the resolution’s intent, which departments and local governments will cite when deciding whether to act.
Encourages annual display and local procedure-setting
This provision ‘‘encourages’’ chief administrators of state, county, and municipal public buildings to display the flag on September 11 and to adopt whatever procedures are necessary for that display. The operative words give local authorities broad discretion: they can determine display location, flag precedence, scheduling, and any permitting or safety requirements without a statewide mandate.
Permits acceptance of donated 9/11 Remembrance Flags
The resolution authorizes public officials or chief administrators to accept donated flags for display. It removes a categorical bar to donations but includes no vetting, ownership transfer, or liability rules; those matters remain subject to existing local gift-acceptance and property-control policies unless an agency chooses to write new procedures.
Administrative distribution instruction
The final resolved clause directs the Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies of the resolution to the author for distribution. This is an administrative step intended to circulate the language to interested parties and does not create obligations or funding.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Government across all five countries.
Explore Government in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Victims’ families and memorial organizations — gain an additional, state-level prompt for public commemoration that can raise visibility for remembrance events.
- Veterans, first responders, and related advocacy groups — receive more opportunities for public ceremonies and recognition at government facilities.
- Manufacturers and donors of commemorative flags — may see demand for 9/11 Remembrance Flags from governments and nonprofit groups wanting to donate or purchase flags for display.
- Facilities managers and event coordinators — get a clear, state-level signal they can cite when proposing or scheduling September 11 displays, which may simplify internal approval for memorial activities.
Who Bears the Cost
- Chief administrators and facilities staff — must spend time creating display procedures, coordinating logistics, and potentially erecting or maintaining additional flags.
- Local government fiscal officers or budgets — may incur modest costs to purchase, replace, store, or properly dispose of flags if donations do not cover needs.
- Municipal attorneys and clerks — may incur legal and administrative work to adapt gift-acceptance policies, resolve liability questions, and ensure compliance with existing flag protocols.
- Public building maintenance divisions — could face minor operational costs for flagpole use, mounting hardware, and weather-related replacement cycles.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between honoring a widely supported memorial aim — prompting public commemoration of September 11 — and the practical limits of a nonbinding resolution: it creates expectations but no funding, no uniform standards, and no enforcement, leaving uneven implementation, administrative burdens, and potential politicization of donated memorial symbols.
The resolution leaves several practical questions unanswered. It does not define what qualifies as a ‘‘9/11 Remembrance Flag’’ (no design, size, or material standards), nor does it set standards for display order or precedence relative to the U.S. flag and state flags.
Because the U.S. Flag Code and many local ordinances govern flag precedence and half-staff protocols, administrators will need to reconcile commemorative displays with those existing rules, which can produce inconsistent approaches across jurisdictions.
Allowing donations eases access to flags but raises governance issues: who inspects donated flags, who retains title, who pays for replacement and storage, and whether donors may attach conditions. The resolution’s permissive language means localities will rely on existing gift-acceptance and procurement rules, potentially creating administrative burdens for smaller jurisdictions without ready policies.
Finally, because the measure is symbolic and nonbinding, it can generate public expectations for uniform commemoration that the state does not actually enforce or fund, creating a gap between symbolic aspiration and operational reality.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.