SCR 18 is a California Senate Concurrent Resolution that recognizes March 25, 2025, as National Medal of Honor Day in California and urges Californians to offer sincere appreciation for the service and sacrifice of Medal of Honor recipients. The measure includes historical context about the Medal of Honor’s origins and traditions, and directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit copies of the resolution to the author for distribution.
The resolution is purely ceremonial: it does not create new rights, duties, funding, or regulatory changes. Its practical effect is to provide an official state imprimatur for commemorations, education, and outreach undertaken by veterans’ organizations, schools, and local governments.
At a Glance
What It Does
The Legislature adopts a concurrent resolution declaring March 25, 2025, National Medal of Honor Day in California, recalling historical facts about the medal, and urging citizens to express appreciation. It also instructs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit copies of the resolution to the author for distribution.
Who It Affects
Medal of Honor recipients and their families, veterans service organizations, schools and museums that run commemorative programming, and local governments or nonprofits that stage observances. State agencies are not assigned any new duties.
Why It Matters
This is an official, symbolic recognition that can be used as a launch point for ceremonies, educational programs, and outreach. Because it is nonbinding and carries no fiscal appropriation, its value is symbolic and practical only to organizations that choose to act on it.
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What This Bill Actually Does
SCR 18 is a ceremonial resolution adopted by both houses of the California Legislature that designates March 25, 2025, as National Medal of Honor Day in the state. The body of the resolution is made up of 'whereas' clauses that summarize the history and meaning of the Medal of Honor — noting the Civil War origins, the first awards to members of Andrews’ Raiders, the selection of March 25 because of first presentations on that date in 1863, the tradition of laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the federal establishment of the federal observance in 1991 — and then two short 'resolved' clauses that make the proclamation and issue an administrative instruction.
As a concurrent resolution, SCR 18 does not amend the California Codes, does not appropriate money, and does not impose enforceable obligations on individuals or entities. The resolution 'urges' Californians to show appreciation, which is hortatory language rather than a command; it therefore creates no compliance regime or penalties.
The document is filed with the Secretary of State and recorded as Chapter 36 for the legislative session.Practically, adoption of SCR 18 gives veterans’ groups, schools, museums, and local governments an official statement they can cite when planning ceremonies, public education campaigns, or press outreach tied to March 25. The resolution may also be used by the author and interested organizations for distribution to constituencies and media, per the instruction to the Secretary of the Senate.Because the resolution contains no funding language and the legislative digest notes no fiscal committee referral, state agencies will not receive additional appropriations or new statutory duties from this measure.
Any costs associated with commemorations will fall to the organizations that choose to host them or to local governments that opt to participate.
The Five Things You Need to Know
SCR 18 is a concurrent resolution (Chapter 36) filed April 29, 2025 — it is adopted by the Legislature but does not become law and is not presented to the governor.
The resolution formally recognizes March 25, 2025, as National Medal of Honor Day in California and uses hortatory language that 'urges' public appreciation rather than imposing requirements.
The text cites specific historical points: the first Medals of Honor were presented on March 25, 1863 (to members of Andrews’ Raiders), and the first federal observance of National Medal of Honor Day occurred on March 25, 1991.
SCR 18 directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit copies of the resolution to the author for appropriate distribution, creating a discrete administrative step to enable outreach.
The legislative digest records no fiscal committee referral and the bill itself contains no appropriation language, indicating no new state fiscal obligations.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Historical framing and rationale
The resolution's 'whereas' clauses collect historical facts and normative language explaining the Medal of Honor’s significance: its status as the nation’s highest military decoration, Civil War origins (Andrews’ Raiders), why March 25 was selected, and traditions such as wreath-laying at Arlington. These clauses do the work of establishing purpose and context for the proclamation and supply materials that educators and communicators can quote in programs and press releases.
Official state recognition and public encouragement
This provision formally recognizes March 25, 2025, as National Medal of Honor Day in California and urges residents to offer appreciation for recipients’ service and sacrifice. Because the language is hortatory, it creates symbolic recognition that stakeholders can reference but imposes no legal duties, standards, or timelines on state entities or private actors.
Transmission for distribution
The final 'resolved' clause directs the Secretary of the Senate to send copies of the resolution to the author for distribution. Mechanically this enables the author and interested organizations to disseminate the proclamation to veterans’ groups, schools, or media; it is an administrative step with no funding attached but with practical implications for outreach and publicity.
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Who Benefits
- Medal of Honor recipients and their families — they receive formal, public recognition at the state level that can be cited in ceremonies and media.
- Veterans service organizations and military museums — the resolution provides an official hook for fundraising, commemorative events, and educational programming tied to March 25.
- Schools and educators — the historical material in the preamble supplies vetted, legislature‑endorsed language for classroom instruction or observances.
- Local governments and community nonprofits that plan ceremonies — they gain a state-recognized date to coordinate events and publicity.
Who Bears the Cost
- Local governments and nonprofit event organizers — any logistical, staffing, or venue costs for observances fall to those hosts rather than to the state under this resolution.
- Secretary of the Senate — limited administrative burden to prepare and transmit copies for distribution, handled within existing staff resources.
- Legislative offices — time and resources used by the author’s office and legislative staff to distribute the resolution and coordinate outreach.
- Taxpayers (indirectly minimal) — the resolution creates no appropriation, but public facilities used for state-sponsored events may see incremental operating costs absorbed locally.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central tension is between symbolic recognition and substantive support: SCR 18 affirms public appreciation and creates an official observance, but it offers no funding, legal obligations, or institutional follow-through — so it satisfies the desire to honor veterans in form while leaving open whether the state will undertake the harder work of policy or resource commitments.
SCR 18 is deliberately symbolic: it packages historical narrative and a state-level proclamation into a short document that supports public recognition but stops short of policy or funding. That design keeps the resolution administratively cheap and politically noncontroversial, but it also limits impact.
If policymakers or advocates wanted the date to trigger state-funded programming, veteran benefits, or formal educational mandates, this resolution provides no mechanism to do so and contains no appropriation or directive to state agencies.
Another implementation challenge is practical coordination. By directing the Secretary of the Senate to transmit copies to the author, the resolution facilitates outreach but does not designate a lead agency or provide funding for statewide events.
That means ceremonies and educational efforts will depend entirely on voluntary action by local governments, nonprofits, and veterans’ groups — uneven capabilities across jurisdictions will produce uneven observance. Finally, because the language is hortatory rather than prescriptive, there is scope for the proclamation to be used as a political symbol without resulting in material support for recipients, which raises normative questions about whether symbolic recognition suffices in the face of unmet needs among veterans.
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