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AJR 18

Relating to: honoring the life and public service of Representative Jonathan Brostoff.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Clint Anderson and 47 co-sponsors

AJR 18 formally recognizes past wrongs against California Native Americans and calls on the federal government to partner with tribes to heal and ensure equal access to resources.

Not published. Enrolled Joint Resolution 4
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Bill Summary · AJR 18

Summary — AJR 18 (as introduced)

Note: the packet supplied contains a conflicting header/title. The bill text and Legislative Counsel’s digest for AJR 18 (author Ramos) address recognition of historical wrongs against California Native Americans. This summary follows the bill text/digest.

Purpose / intent

AJR 18 is a joint legislative resolution that formally recognizes and documents historical wrongdoing committed by the State of California and its Legislature against California Native American peoples. It seeks to acknowledge past laws and actions that harmed Indigenous people, condemn those actions, and urge the federal government to work with tribal leaders to address historic injustices and improve equitable access to resources, healthcare, education, and environmental stewardship.

Key findings and historical findings (selected)

The resolution lists historical acts and events, including:
- California’s incorporation into the U.S. (1848) and legislative complicity in early persecutions of Native people.
- 1849 California Constitutional Convention provisions that denied Native people the right to vote.
- The 1850 “An Act for the Government and Protection of Indians,” which facilitated removals, family separations, indentured servitude, barred Indigenous people as credible witnesses in certain cases, and criminalized “vagrancy” with provisions to hire out Indigenous persons for up to four months.
- 1850 laws authorizing formation and mobilization of militias against Indigenous people.
- State expenditures related to suppression of Native communities: $843,373.48 (1851–1859) for troop subsistence/pay; estimated expedition costs of $449,605.74 (1854–1859); only $229,987.67 reimbursed by Congress; total claims submitted of $1,293,179.20.
- 1852 legislative opposition to ratifying 18 treaties between the U.S. and California tribes.
- 1860 Joint Special Committee on the Mendocino Indian War and resulting majority/minority recommendations, including proposals favoring peonage/apprenticeships in the minority report.
- Recognition that California Native Americans have survived and that the Legislature has not formally examined or apologized for its historical actions.

Main provisions / actions requested

  • The Legislature formally recognizes the historical wrongdoing committed against California Native Americans and states that substantial work is needed for healing and reconciliation.
  • The Assembly and Senate condemn those past actions (full condemnation language truncated in provided text).
  • The measure urges the federal government to work alongside tribal leaders to address historic injustices, uphold treaty obligations, and ensure equitable access to resources, healthcare, education, and environmental stewardship (per Legislative Counsel’s digest).

Who is affected

  • California Native American tribes and individual tribal members (recognition and potential policy attention).
  • State and federal governments (the resolution urges federal engagement and asks state-level acknowledgement).
  • State agencies and programs related to health, education, natural resources, and tribal relations (may be implicated by calls to address inequities).

Procedural / timeline highlights

  • Introduced: June 30, 2025.
  • Legislative Counsel’s digest and bill text recorded July 4, 2025 (Assembly Judiciary).
  • Assembly adoption: July 14, 2025 (Ayes 76, Noes 0); transmitted to Senate and referred to Senate Rules (July 15); referred to Judiciary committee (record shows committee referrals on July 4 and Aug 20).
  • Classification: Joint resolution; Fiscal Committee: No (non-fiscal).
  • Status notes in the record include “Not published. Enrolled Joint Resolution 4” and other enrollment/filing entries; portions of the text provided are truncated.

Notes / limitations

  • The publicly provided packet contains truncated text: some resolve clauses are incomplete in the materials available here. The digest and available text indicate further condemnations and calls to action that may be contained in the full enrolled resolution.
  • The header/title in the supplied bill header conflicted with the text; this summary is based on the Legislative Counsel’s digest and bill text describing recognition of historical wrongs against California Native Americans.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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