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Highway 33 through Firebaugh would be named in memory of Sixto Maldonado Jr., a reserve police officer killed in the line of duty in 1975, if a resolution by state Assembly Member Juan Arambula is approved.

Arambula announced the resolution Friday honoring Maldonado along with an Assembly bill to continue funding memorials to fallen officers and firefighters.

"Without proper funding, these memorials will not be able to continue," Arambula said. Assembly Bill 1812 would extend the voluntary tax check-off option on state income tax forms to Jan. 1, 2016.

Money from the check-off is the only state funding to build memorials to law enforcement officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty, Arambula said. The funds also provide counseling for families and pay for smoke detectors for low income households.

Maldonado's parents, Sixto Sr. and Angelina Maldonado, stood near Arambula, D-Fresno, as he announced his resolution in front of the Fresno Police Department's memorial in downtown Fresno.

Maldonado, 23, was shot in the back while on duty as the night dispatcher at the Firebaugh police station about 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 19, 1975. He died a few hours later and was survived by his wife, Rosie, and their 2-month-old son, Sixto Maldonado III.

The suspect, James C. Heather, 22, of Firebaugh, apparently killed himself in a vacant building near the station not long after allegedly shooting Maldonado.

Today, three of Maldonado's brothers are in law enforcement.

Naming part of Highway 33 for Maldonado would keep his memory alive, said Fresno County District Attorney Elizabeth Egan.

"I can only imagine what it means to forever have his name up there for people to see."

Memorials such as the gray granite structure in downtown Fresno etched with the names of local police officers help families and comrades deal with grief, local officials said Friday.

"The memory of fallen officers lives on forever and sends a strong message to officers who see the memorial," Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

Ten peace officers and eight firefighters died in the line of duty in California in 2007, including detective Kent Haws, a 10-year veteran of the Tulare County Sheriff's Department.

Haws, 38, was shot and killed Dec. 17 along a Tulare County roadside north of Ivanhoe as he investigated a report of suspicious circumstances in the area.

Jorge Gomez Banda, 20, of Ivanhoe was arrested shortly after the shooting and charged with murder.