UPDATE — 2 September 2026

SCR 193 passed the California State Senate unanimously, 39–0, on 20 August 2026 and was referred to the Assembly Transportation Committee on August 24.

But, under Assembly rules that put up high bars to expediting any measure in the final two weeks of the session — in this case, August 17–31 — SCR 193 received neither committee nor floor votes in the Assembly. 

The Emperor Norton Trust is committed to seeing this Emperor Norton Tunnel resolution reintroduced in the next legislative session (opening December 2026). 

Our new goal: Make sure that this resolution (which would have a new number) gets all the votes it deserves — and that the legislature makes the Emperor Norton Tunnel a reality in 2027.

To learn more — and for resources you can use to email your Assemblymember urging their support — see our Action Guide.

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UPDATE — 3 August 2026 

Today, California State Senator Scott Wiener took up The Emperor Norton Trust's original proposal that the California state legislature designate the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge tunnel through Yerba Buena Island, S.F., as the Emperor Norton Tunnel and advanced this proposal as Senate Concurrent Resolution 193. The measure is co-authored by Assemblymember Catherine Stefani. The Emperor Norton Trust is the citizen sponsor.  

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6 September 2025

For 10 years after its launch on 1 August 2013, this petition of The Emperor Norton Trust called on the California state legislature simply to add "Emperor Norton Bridge" as an honorary name for the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge system.

This petition closed with 6,700 signatures a few days after its 10th anniversary — on 7 August 2023.

But...

In September 2025, the Trust reopened the petition in an effort to build support for our new proposal.

The tunnel through Yerba Buena Island that connects the eastern and western sections of the Bay Bridge opened as part of the bridge in 1936.

Although the tunnel is known as “Yerba Buena Tunnel,” it never has been officially named and has no dedicated signage.

The Emperor Norton Trust is calling on the state legislature to name this tunnel Emperor Norton Tunnel in 2026: the 90th anniversary of the bridge and the 180th anniversary of Joshua Norton's first arrival in the United States in 1846.

To learn more, click the Proposal button at: 

EmperorNortonTunnel.org

By all means, sign this petition if you wish to show support for the Emperor Norton Tunnel naming —  but please sign ONLY if you've not previously signed (2013–2023).

Thank you!

John Lumea
The Emperor Norton Trust