Amended in Assembly September 4, 2015

Amended in Senate June 19, 2015

Senate Joint ResolutionNo. 10


Introduced by Senator Stone

(Coauthors: Senatorsbegin delete Bates and Gainesend deletebegin insert Bates, Beall, Gaines, Huff, and Lenoend insert)

(Coauthors: Assembly Membersbegin delete Baker and Linderend deletebegin insert Baker, Gallagher, Linder, Mullin, and Rodriguezend insert)

May 22, 2015


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

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SJR 10, as amended, 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.

P1    1WHEREAS, The United States has an abundance of solar energy
2resources that are sufficient to supply a significant portion of the
3energy needs of the United States; and

4WHEREAS, Farmers can become more economically resilient
5to the unique and difficult challenges facing farming communities
6through solar power; and

7WHEREAS, Schools and educational institutions, as well as
8other governmental entities and nonprofit entities, can save
P2    1considerable amounts of limited public moneys by investing in
2solar power; and

3WHEREAS, Homeowners, renters, and businesses statewide
4can control for rising energy costs through the investment in solar
5power; and

6WHEREAS, Rural communities can benefit from the
7construction of utility scale solar energy projects; and

8WHEREAS, Allbegin insert ofend insert these markets rely on the federal investment
9tax credit to make solar energy affordable for all who want it; and

10WHEREAS, The solar energy industry employs 54,000
11Californians and is one of the nation’s fastest growing job creators,
12employing 173,807 people nationwide and growing at a rate nearly
1320 times faster than the overall economy, according to The Solar
14Foundation; and

15WHEREAS, The loss of the investment tax credit would lead
16to significant job losses in California and beyond in 2017; and

17WHEREAS, Accelerated development and use of solar energy
18technologies would provide numerous benefits to all citizens of
19California and the United States, including improved national
20security, healthier rural economies, improved air and environmental
21quality, and abundant, reliable, and affordable energy; and

22WHEREAS, The solar industry adds more than $15 billion to
23the United States economy and increased energy production from
24domestic solar energy resources would attract substantial new
25investments in energy infrastructure and create local economic
26growth; and

27WHEREAS, Increased use of solar energy is practical and can
28be cost effective with the help of consistent, long-term supportive
29policies and proper incentives to stimulate markets and
30infrastructure, such as the Investment Tax Credit; and

31WHEREAS, Long-term supportive policies and proper
32incentives at the local, state, and federal levels have brought about
33significant cost reductions within the solar industry in California
34and across the country; and

35WHEREAS, Public policies aimed at enhancing solar energy
36production and accelerating technological improvements will
37further reduce energy costs over time and increase market demand;
38and

39WHEREAS, The federal investment tax credit for solar power,
40contained in Sections 48 and 25D of Title 26 of the United States
P3    1Code, is set to decrease from 30 percent to 10 percent for
2commercial consumers and from 30 percent to 0 percent for
3residential consumers after December 31, 2016; now, therefore,
4be it

5Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
6California, jointly,
That the Legislature respectfully requests that
7the Congress of the United States take immediate action to extend
8the federal investment tax credit in Sections 48 and 25D of Title
926 of the United States Code; and be it further

10Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
11this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
12States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
13Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and
14Representative from California in the Congress of the United
15States.



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