They met also in valeo. Still close enough to sacramento. When they first decided where to place a capitol, they wanted it closer to an area that people can get to quickly. Sacramento had a lot going for it because of the gold rush in 1849. It brought a lot of people in. So we had issaloons and roads a a way to get here. Through stops and starts, sacramento was chosen to be the State Capitol and construction on this building started in 1860. It took about 14 years to complete. As is the case with a lot of State Capitols throughout the country. The civil war era brought a lot of stops and starts. The capitol in 1971 went through a distinctive seismic test. A twoyear test to see if this building would withstand an earthqua earthquake. There was a huge earth quake in 1971. It turned our attention to the fact with modernization and floors ands me neen s mtrying look modern, they decided to see if it would actually withstand an earthquake. It was condemned. It basically the bricks that were Holding Together the building, you could put a pencil through it. They said it was being held up by habit and gravity. Senator collier drew up plans in the late 60s for modern office space. It would include two towers and it would take 42 million to basically take down the capitol down to the ground and then about 70 million to build. That was shelved for a while. By then, people were turn ing their attention to our bicentennial and looking to see where are the places. A bill introduced in the assembly in 1975 actually created the ability for us to take the money that would be used for the collier towers and redirect it to see if we could actually save the building and make it earth quaquake safe, r t retrofit it. Six years and 68 million later, what were looking at is a recreation of what you would have seen in 1900 through 1910. We are in the assembly chambers. We are on what they call the floor of the assembly. The galleries are above us. And as with any state house, the galleries are where the public would sit and view the legislature. The idea that california is very diverse is reflected in our 80 Assembly Members. They sit at desks that were here in 1869. First time this room was used, the desks you see were sitting here. They were brandnew. Theyre a story of a gentleman who immigrated here and made california his home, because of the possibilities. John bruiner was from germany. He was a woodworker. He came to california during the gold rush. Because he was a woodworker, he actually created tools for minors. They would use bowel bowls or r which looked like baby cradles in a sense. We have one on our state seal. You could put more dirt through and actually be more efficient in finding the gold. He made those. Eventual lly miners asked him t make beds. His Home Furnishings grew to be a huge business which is online today. John bruiner created all the desks you see. Theres 80 of them. There are 40 in the senate. We still use them today. Our Legislature Since the 1960s has been fulltime. Prior to that, it was parttime. But because of that, we had many people be able to be reelected over and over again. By the 1990s, people thought that it might not be a good thing to have career politicians. So in the 1990s, through a proposition that was voted directly by the california voters, we became a state of term limits. Here in the assembly, after 1990, the Assembly Members would serve two year terms and they could repeat that three times, six years total. In the senate, it was two fouryear terms. In 2012, the voters made a decision again and term limits was changed. Between 1990 and 2012 many attempts were made but all were voted down. In 2012, the voters decided that each length lgilegislator could years. One served 15 years as speaker. The speaker of the assembly or the house in other states is elected by the members themselves. A gentleman named willy brown, who was raised with a single mom in texas, a rags to riches story, became influential in politics and a strong africanamerican political figure in california. He was here for quite a while and served for 15 years before term limits and had to term out. He went on to be mayor of San Francisco. Jess unru, a former speaker who had a lot of power for nine years, he had a Committee Room named after him. Recently, in 2004, 2005, john burton actually was pro tem, has a hearing room named after him. It was his brother phillip that went from the assembly straight to congress representing the bay area. A number of our lawmakers have gone on to careers representing californians in the United States congress. There are some interesting things around the room itself. The portrait of abraham lincoln, for instance, is above the speakers rostrum. A portrait of George Washington hangs over the leadership desk. The picture of lincoln is actually done by cogswell who was an artist who steketched lincoln and did paintings from his sketches during the civil war. Abraham lincoln in 1900, 1910, would have been considered a as significant as George Washington would have been. So you had two significant president s hanging in our chambers with the reminder that we are connected to the United States. California being so far west and not a lot in between, the idea that we would create the look of the capitol with as close to what the United States capitol looked like, we were the wild west, building this huge building with a dome and columns, very similar in look and style to the United States capitol. That wasnt by mistake. It was the idea we were part of this particular government right now, this is who our identity is. So you see a lot of symbolism in the rooms. In fact the green color of the assembly and the red color of the senate are stemmed from what was being used during the United States capitol at that time in the United States in their house and senate. And it actually has roots that go back to British Parliament where we got our two house system. Green, house of commons. Red, house of lords. Now were in the senate. Were actually on the third floor of the capitol. The third floor was a gallery. The chairs you see around you are for the people. Now, legislative sessions are open to the public. At any time youre going to see either a lot of people, a lot of schoolchildren or a lot of nobody, depending on whats going on. A lot of bills have gone through this room that have been very controversial. Of course, thats what the capitol was built for. I used to tell children, were a bill making factory. In a way, thats the intent of the building, to be a place where california representatives, legislators, would make decisions on pieces of legislation and turn them into law. For instance, in 1911, you saw some monumental bills being passed in here due to progressive era governments. Prior to 1911, a lot of legislation was favored toward special interest. The railroad was a huge special interest here in california. A governor that was elected in 1910, johnson, sacramento native, brought in the progressive era politics, which meant that it was government in the service of people, creating bills and legislations that would assist people in various walks of life. For instance in 1911, you saw compulsory education in california. You also saw an eighthour work day, specifically for women in the work force, but you could still work six days. But you couldnt go over 48 hours a week. Monumentally, the womens suffrage bill was approved. It was a Senate Constitutional amendment here, passed by the senate and assembly and ratified by a slim 2 of a majority in the state of california. Also significant is the referendum, the initiative and recall. The idea you could directly vote on something by passing a legislative approval or disapproval. In 1972, the people of california reintroduced the Death Penalty into california based on an initiative process. At the top of the senate, right above the president pro tem desk, you see minera. You see her around the capitol a lot. She was placed on californias state seal in 1849. But she represented also californias becoming a state without being a territory. In her ancient roman story, she sprung full grown from the brain of jupiter. So she was never a baby and never a young child. Just right off the bat full grown like california that became the 31st state without ever being a territory. They were pretty proud of that in 1849. In a way, to put that on the state seal in 1849, not having been a state yet, they were that was it. They had decided, we were either going to be a state or we were going to be an independent republic. She was a symbol of that, why is why shes one of the biggest things up there. Right now, we are in one of our historic rooms at the restoration, the first floor was turned into basically a first floor museum. Showing people what government was like, the Office Culture of the turn of the century the turn of the last century, i might say. We are in the governors main office. This would reflect the governor who was the governor during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The governors used these Office Complexes up until 1950 when the east wing the annex opened up, and the governor offices moved down there. You see a lot of things reflected in the opulence of the period. Heavy curtains, the woodworking on the walls to represent tooled leather. But this was a working, fungal office. It must have been amazingly busy during the time of the earthquake when the governor went to oakland, the two executive secretaries had to take everything, donations came to the Governors Office. The best communication you had was actually physically being there. A telephone and telegraph. Here in the office we have actually a telegraph from roosevelt asking how he could help. The telegraph came the day after. There are things you can show people on government, on how it changes and the things that the Governors Office does. We talked a little bit about progressive era laws that were made. Most significantly, womens suffrage, the initiative, recall and referendum. Here is a Perfect Place to talk about that. Although the recall was used significantly right afterwards to recall people on commissions that were friendly to the railroad, legislators, things like that, it had never successfully been used to recall a governor until most recently. In 2003, governor gray davis was recalled. At the same time on the same ballot, a new governor was elected. A person wellknown throughout the United States if not the world, arnold schwarzenegger. He became governor in 2004 based on a recall. Gray davis was only the second governor to be recalled at that time in the United States. Another state had recalled a governor in 1921. Its not used very often to recall a governor. Attempts are made to recall governors. In fact, Ronald Reagan had an attempted recall. Our current governor, jerry brown, in his when he was governor prior to this this is his second term of office. And his dad, edmund brown were both recalled but were unsuccessful. Preserving Old Buildings gives a feeling of solidarity. The values that were valuable back then are still valuable now. The original intent of the building was still here