Senate Joint Resolution No. 10

Introduced by Senator Stone

May 22, 2015

Senate Joint Resolution No. 10—Relative to Federal Investment Tax Credit.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SJR 10, as introduced, Stone. Federal Investment Tax Credit: solar energy.

This measure would respectfully request that the Congress of the United States take immediate action to extend the federal investment tax credit in Sections 48 and 25D of Title 26 of the United States Code.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The United States has an abundance of solar energy
resources sufficient to supply a significant portion of the energy
needs of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Farmers can become more economically resilient
to the unique and difficult challenges facing farming communities
through solar power; and

WHEREAS, Schools and educational institutions, as well as
other governmental entities and nonprofit entities, can save
considerable amounts of limited public moneys by investing in
solar power; and

WHEREAS, Homeowners, renters, and businesses statewide
can control for rising energy costs through the investment in solar
power; and

WHEREAS, Rural communities can benefit from the
construction of utility scale solar energy projects; and

WHEREAS, All these markets rely on the federal investment
tax credit to make solar energy affordable for all who want it; and

WHEREAS, The solar energy industry employs 54,000
Californians and is one of the nation’s fastest growing job creators,
employing 173,807 people nationwide and growing at a rate nearly
20 times faster than the overall economy, according to The Solar
Foundation; and

WHEREAS, The loss of the investment tax credit would lead
to significant job losses in California and beyond in 2017; and

WHEREAS, Accelerated development and use of solar energy
technologies would provide numerous benefits to all citizens of
California and the United States, including improved national
security, healthier rural economies, improved air and environmental
quality, and abundant, reliable, and affordable energy; and

WHEREAS, The solar industry adds more than $15 billion to
the United States economy and increased energy production from
domestic solar energy resources would attract substantial new
investments in energy infrastructure and create local economic
growth; and

WHEREAS, Increased use of solar energy is practical and can
be cost effective with the help of consistent, long-term supportive
policies and proper incentives to stimulate markets and
infrastructure, such as the Investment Tax Credit; and

WHEREAS, Long-term supportive policies and proper
incentives at the local, state, and federal levels have brought about
significant cost reductions within the solar industry in California
and across the country; and

WHEREAS, Public policies aimed at enhancing solar energy
production and accelerating technological improvements will
further reduce energy costs over time and increase market demand;
and

WHEREAS, The federal investment tax credit for solar power,
contained in Sections 48 and 25D of Title 26 of the United States
Code, is set to decrease from 30 percent to 10 percent for
commercial consumers and from 30 percent to 0 percent for
residential consumers after December 31, 2016; now, therefore,
be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully requests that
the Congress of the United States take immediate action to extend
the federal investment tax credit in Sections 48 and 25D of Title
26 of the United States Code; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States.