Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 8
CHAPTER 50
Relative to the State Capitol Building.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
May 10, 2019.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 8, Hertzberg.
State Capitol Building.
This measure would recognize the 150th anniversary of the Legislature first convening session in the State Capitol Building in Sacramento.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, Following its official statehood in the United States of America in 1850, California’s State Capitol was in various locations, including San Jose, Benicia, and Vallejo; and
WHEREAS, In February 1854, the Legislature passed a bill to make Sacramento the permanent home for the state government; the bill was signed by Governor John Bigler; and
WHEREAS, Senator William J. Ferguson of Sacramento carried legislation to provide for the construction of the State Capitol, which was signed on April 18, 1856, by Governor J. Neely Johnson; and
WHEREAS, Construction began on the historic State Capitol in Sacramento, on the grounds of Capitol Park, in 1860. It was designed by architects M.F. Butler and Ruben Clark and its style was an adaptation of Roman Corinthian architecture. Construction was completed at a cost of $2,450,000; and
WHEREAS, Although construction was not completed until 1874, on December 6, 1869, the 18th Session of the Legislature convened at the new chambers for the first time; and
WHEREAS, At noon on that date, the Chief Clerk of the State Assembly from the 17th Session, Mr. John A. Eagan, constitutionally acting as Speaker, called the Assembly to order. Although the Assembly did not select officers at that time since Mr. Marion Biggs of Butte County moved for adjournment, the following day, Mr. George H. Rogers of San Francisco was selected as eighteenth Speaker of the Assembly; and
WHEREAS, Also at noon, Lieutenant Governor William Holden called the Senate to order and addressed the Senators: “We are assembled for the first time in this chamber, which for beauty and grandeur is surpassed by but few (if any) of our sister States. […] This happy mingling of colors by the painter’s brush, this ingenious carving by the skillful worker in wood, that horn of plenty, this guardian angel of the liberties of the people, and this gracious smile of the father of our country upon us, all tend to impress the mind with pleasurable and patriotic emotions. Let us see to it, that the labor of those who reared these massive walls, as well as the artistic skill which adorned and beautified these halls, shall be fully compensated. If the laws you shall frame during this session shall have the same solidity, the same elegance of proportion, the same adaptability to the objects for which
they are intended as this structure, [then] your constituents may well say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servants’” ; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature at its 2019–20 Regular Session remembers those words of Lieutenant Governor Holden and recognizes this historic anniversary, which is 150 years since the Legislature first convened session in the State Capitol Building in Sacramento; and be it further
Resolved, That the State Capitol Building is a living, breathing, and functioning emblem of democracy and should be celebrated and commemorated; and be it further
Resolved, That in celebrating the 150th anniversary of the State Capitol’s permanent location in Sacramento, the Legislature is recommitting itself to public service and faithfully serving the great State of California; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.