BILL NUMBER: ACR 43 INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cooley APRIL 4, 2013 Relative to State Capitol History Month. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST ACR 43, as introduced, Cooley. State Capitol History Month. This measure would proclaim May 2013 as State Capitol History Month, in order to raise awareness of the importance of the State Capitol. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, The State Capitol is visited by over one million tourists each year, approximately 700,000 of which are children; and WHEREAS, After fires that destroyed the first State Capitol building, political issues involved with the building of the second, and numerous changes to the location of the Capitol city, the State Capitol was built in Sacramento; and WHEREAS, The California Gold Rush began with the discovery of significant gold deposits near Sacramento in 1848, which greatly increased Sacramento's population; and WHEREAS, People from many different cultures came to California in search of fortune and many of those people went through Sacramento; and WHEREAS, Sacramento was a major distribution center, which is why it was the starting point of the First Transcontinental Railroad; and WHEREAS, With the gold miners came many businesses and entrepreneurs that gave Sacramento an economic base and more to offer than other cities; and WHEREAS, Sacramento was more safe because it was not near the ocean and yet it also had access to rivers so the city could engage in the economy both on land and at sea; and WHEREAS, It took 14 years to complete the building of the State Capitol in Sacramento; and WHEREAS, People of diverse cultures from all over the world that had settled in Sacramento were involved in the building of the State Capitol; and WHEREAS, The State Capitol was declared unsafe in 1975, but the Assembly and the Senate refused to move to a new building because the State Capitol had been their home for over 100 years; and WHEREAS, The restoration project of the State Capitol was the most extensive effort of its kind in the Western Hemisphere; and WHEREAS, The original State Capitol cornerstone was laid on May 15, 1861, and during the restoration the cornerstone was relaid on May 18, 1978; and WHEREAS, The State Capitol evokes a spirit of pride and confidence in California; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes May 2013 as State Capitol History Month, in order to raise awareness of the importance of the State Capitol; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.