HR 88
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2026
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
Blanca Pacheco, Chair
HR 88 (Quirk-Silva) – As Introduced February 25, 2026
SUBJECT: The 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
SUMMARY: Recognizes the 250th anniversary of the United States as a moment for
celebration and honest reflection, as an occasion to reckon with both the brilliance and the
failures of the American story, as an opportunity to honor the contributions of all who have built
and defended this nation regardless of recognition or reward, and as a time to recommit ourselves
to the work of forming a more just, more inclusive, and more perfect Union. Specifically, this
resolution makes the following legislative findings:
1) On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of
Independence, proclaiming to the world that all people are created equal, that they are
endowed with certain unalienable rights, and that among these rights are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. Those words have ignited the imaginations of people and nations
across the centuries.
2) On July 4, 2026, the United States will celebrate its 250th anniversary of independence,
commemorating a quarter of a millennium of self-governance, democratic ideals, and the
enduring promise of a more perfect Union.
3) The State of California, admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850, as the 31st state, has
for more than 175 years embodied the great promise of American possibility, serving as a
beacon of innovation, diversity, cultural vitality, and the indomitable spirit that defines
American character.
4) California is home to over 39 million people, representing virtually every nation, culture,
language, and tradition on earth, making it one of the most extraordinary expressions of the
American experiment in pluralistic democracy.
5) The story of the United States is not merely the story of its founding documents, but the
living and unfinished story of each generation’s struggle to close the distance between this
nation’s ideals and its reality by those who dared hold it to its highest promise, including
suffragists and civil right marchers, labor organizers, and veterans.
6) The 250th anniversary of United States independence presents a singular opportunity for
every community to participate in civic celebrations, service initiatives, educational
programs, and cultural events that honor the United States’ shared heritage and the full
breadth of its diverse stories.
7) History teaches with unmistakable clarity that liberty is never permanently secured and that
the democratic inheritance of the American people demands active and vigilant stewardship
in the face of those both at home and abroad who would trade the common good for private
gain, exchange the rule of law for the rule of power, or subordinate the rights of the many to
the ambitions of the few.
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8) The freedoms Americans cherish today were won not by the complacent but by the
courageous, and the generations yet to come will likewise be called upon, as every generation
has, to defend the republic against the forces of greed and authoritarianism and the unjust
concentration of power; the truest honor we can pay to those who sacrificed before us is to
meet that call with equal resolve.
FISCAL EFFECT: This resolution is keyed non-fiscal by Legislative Counsel.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: Michael Erke / RLS. / (916) 319-2800