20250AB__133495AMD INTRODUCED 2025-02-21 AMENDED_ASSEMBLY 2025-03-26 AMENDED_ASSEMBLY 2025-05-08 AMENDED_SENATE 2025-06-30 AMENDED_SENATE 2026-06-16 2025 AB AMD Introduced by Assembly Member Wallis (Coauthor: Senator Stern) LEAD_AUTHOR ASSEMBLY Wallis COAUTHOR SENATE Stern

An act to add and repeal

Section 425.17 of the Government Code, relating to state government. state government California State Library: study: official state energy. Existing law establishes the state flag and the state’s emblems, including, among other things, the golden poppy as the official state flower, the California redwood as the official state tree, and the California gray whale as the official state marine mammal. Existing law establishes the California State Library within the state government and vests control of the library to the State Librarian.

Existing law authorizes the California State Library to serve as the central reference and research library for the departments of state government and maintain adequate legislative reference and research library services for the Legislature. This bill would establish solar energy as the official state energy. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.</xhtml:p>"?> This bill would require the California State Library to conduct a study, in consultation with the public, on the best candidate for the official state energy.

The bill would require the California State Library, on or before January 1, 2028, to submit a report to the Legislature with the California State Library’s recommendations based on the study. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2032. MAJORITY NO YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION

Section 425.17 is added to the Government Code , to read: 425.17. (

a) The California State Library shall conduct a study, in consultation with the public, on the best candidate for the official state energy. (b)

(1) On or before January 1, 2028, the California State Library shall submit a report to the Legislature with the California State Library’s recommendations based on the study conducted pursuant to subdivision (a).

(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with

Section 9795. (

c) This

section shall be repealed on January 1, 2032, pursuant to

Section 10231.5. <caml:Num>SECTION 1.</caml:Num><caml:Content><xhtml:p>(a)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Solar energy is the light and heat from the sun captured to generate electricity and heating. It is a vital renewable energy resource, and California is a world leader in solar energy development, infrastructure, and related jobs.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(b)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Around the world, California is best known for its abundant sunlight.

California’s diverse culture, from its iconic landmarks to sports and even food, is shaped by and made possible by the sun.

The state’s year-round sunny conditions make California the optimal place to develop solar energy.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(c)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>California was the first state to embrace solar energy as a mainstream energy resource with the development of solar hot water technologies in the 1920s, the invention of the modern solar photovoltaic cell by Bell Labs in 1954, and, later, with the rapid expansion of solar energy into mainstream consumer markets with the Million Solar Roofs Initiative followed by the Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(d)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>California now has over 2,100,000 solar installations, including solar rooftops and canopies over homes, buildings, and parking lots, totaling to approximately gigawatts of solar capacity.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(e)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Today, California is also home to some of the largest utility-scale solar powerplants in the world, such as the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm in the County of Riverside and today’s largest solar photovoltaic powerplant, Solar Star, in the County of Kern.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(f)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>While all forms of energy have played an important role in the development of California into the fourth largest economy in the world, solar energy is abundant, renewable, ubiquitous, and accessible.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(g)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>In 2024, solar energy supplied more than percent of the state’s electricity generation, with over gigawatts of rooftop and utility-scale solar capacity, which is more than other states’ solar markets combined.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(h)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>As more people look to sustainable and renewable sources of energy, California can serve as a world leader in solar energy development.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(i)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Solar energy captures the essence of California’s rich history and culture, its notable achievements in infrastructure, economic development, ingenuity, and entrepreneurialism, and its embrace of new technologies, innovation, and change.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(j)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>Because of the state’s historic leadership in developing solar energy, its commitment to renewable energy, and its golden and abundant sunshine, solar energy is the appropriate choice as a representative energy symbol for the State of California.</xhtml:p></caml:Content></caml:BillSection><caml:BillSection id="id_CFA8A52D-7AF7-4A98-85A2-1135954D7D22"><caml:Num>SEC. 2.</caml:Num><caml:ActionLine action="IS_ADDED" xlink:href="urn:caml:codes:GOV:caml#xpointer(%2Fcaml%3ALawDoc%2Fcaml%3ACode%2F%2Fcaml%3ALawSection%5Bcaml%3ANum%3D'425.17'%5D)" xlink:label="fractionType: LAW_SECTION" xlink:type="locator">Section 425.17 is added to the <caml:DocName>Government Code</caml:DocName>, to read:</caml:ActionLine><caml:Fragment><caml:LawSection id="id_8C95F778-D9DC-4E22-9F44-F5DA9127D257"><caml:Num>425.17.</caml:Num><caml:LawSectionVersion id="id_5CF4DD10-6FF7-41B2-A6F9-78BF0EEA34AA"><caml:Content><xhtml:p>Solar energy is the official state energy.</xhtml:p></caml:Content></caml:LawSectionVersion></caml:LawSection></caml:Fragment></caml:BillSection>"?>