AB1334 - California State Library: study: official state energy.

Amended IN Senate June 16, 2026 Amended IN Senate June 30, 2025 Amended IN Assembly May 08, 2025 Amended IN Assembly March 26, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1334 Introduced by Assembly Member Wallis (Coauthor: Senator Stern) February 21, 2025 An act to add and repeal Section 425.17 to of the Government Code, relating to state government. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1334, as amended, Wallis. Solar energy: 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. 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. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. 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 (c) This section shall be repealed on January 1, 2032, pursuant to Section 10231.5. SECTION 1. (a) 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. (b) 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. (c) 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 2006 Million Solar Roofs Initiative followed by the Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007. (d) California now has over 2,100,000 solar installations, including solar rooftops and canopies over homes, buildings, and parking lots, totaling to approximately 50 gigawatts of solar capacity. (e) 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. (f) 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. (g) In 2024, solar energy supplied more than 31 percent of the state’s electricity generation, with over 30 gigawatts of rooftop and utility-scale solar capacity, which is more than 42 other states’ solar markets combined. (h) As more people look to sustainable and renewable sources of energy, California can serve as a world leader in solar energy development. (i) 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. (j) 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. SEC. 2. Section 425.17 is added to the Government Code , to read: 425.17. Solar energy is the official state energy.