This is a lesson the people of California need to learn. Arnold asked for $33 billion for a train from L.A. to San Fran—the cost is now north of $200 billion—and about thirty years behind schedule. So, it is no surprise building a new office complex for the legislature would get out of hand. Of course, both are facing finance shortage at a time the Feds will not bail us out and the State has a real deficit of tens of billions of dollars.
“The $1.1 billion (and counting) Capitol Annex Project had an original cost estimate of $543.2 million total in 2018. The building will house offices for the state’s 120 lawmakers, the governor, lieutenant governor, and staff. The building will also have committee hearing rooms where lawmakers will debate and vote on various issues. The price tag is also expected to pay for a parking garage and a new visitor’s center on the west side of the historic state capitol building.
KCRA 3 has learned the new building will also have beefed-up security that includes private hallways for lawmakers that will allow them to avoid the public and the media in some instances.
Double the price and going up. Secret hallways so the legislators can hide from the media and the public. Putting would be proud.
Why is a new office building for California lawmakers costing as much as an NFL stadium?
Ashley Zavala, KCRA, 4/21/25 https://www.kcra.com/article/california-capitol-annex-cost-nfl-stadium/64544962?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%20-%20Politics&utm_source=68078bcbb801fc4fb0c1e3a24be2a729&brzu=&lctg=674ce1b2d702e32b6be02398
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Project leaders overseeing California’s Capitol Annex project remain quiet about the cost of what will be one of the most expensive buildings in the United States.
The $1.1 billion (and counting) Capitol Annex Project had an original cost estimate of $543.2 million total in 2018. The building will house offices for the state’s 120 lawmakers, the governor, lieutenant governor, and staff. The building will also have committee hearing rooms where lawmakers will debate and vote on various issues. The price tag is also expected to pay for a parking garage and a new visitor’s center on the west side of the historic state capitol building.
KCRA 3 has learned the new building will also have beefed-up security that includes private hallways for lawmakers that will allow them to avoid the public and the media in some instances.
California taxpayers are paying for all of it.
The price tag is similar to Northern California’s NFL Stadium, Levi’s Stadium, in Santa Clara. The 68,500 seat stadium was built for $1.3 billion a decade ago, which is about $1.7 billion in today’s dollars adjusted for inflation.
The NBA Stadium in Sacramento, the Golden 1 Center, can hold 19,000 and cost $558.2 million in 2016, or $731 million in today’s dollars.
Now, six months after litigation against the Capitol Annex project ended, the California Legislature’s Joint Rules Committee overseeing the project has yet to give an update on how exactly the tax dollars are being spent. The last public update was in April 2021.
Despite repeated requests, no one with the Joint Rules Committee would do an interview with KCRA 3 about the project, even though the lawsuits are over.
Lia Lopez, the chief administrative officer for the committee, told KCRA 3 in an email that there are now no plans to construct the west side visitor’s center, but said the budget for the project overall will not change. Lopez went on to say the costs will actually rise because of the litigation.
She said the committee is working on a public update that will be provided at some point this year.
As KCRA 3 first reported last year, non-disclosure agreements have been legally forcing more than 2,000 people to keep quiet about the project. The main way we have been able to get information has been through leaks.
Here’s a closer look at what we’ve been able to find out so far.
Private hallways for lawmakers or “secure corridors”
While the public and most lawmakers have been kept in the dark about the project, multiple sources told KCRA 3 that State Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire provided a few details to a large group of lobbyists earlier this month.
Speaking at an Institute of Governmental Advocates meeting in Sacramento, McGuire confirmed to dozens of lobbyists that there will be private hallways for lawmakers in the new Capitol annex.
McGuire did not deny it in a statement to KCRA 3.
“Secure corridors have always been included in plans for the new annex (as they already exist in the swing space) and are designed to help ensure the safety and security of lawmakers, which is even more important today given the events that unfolded on January 6th at our nation’s capital building and the active threats public officials continue to face,” McGuire said. “Regardless, legislators will continue to be accessible and responsive to the public, staff, and reporters no matter what hallway, elevator or stairwell they choose to use. The same is true when they’re working in their communities or at events around town.”
Lawmakers currently have their own entrances to hearing rooms and their own elevators. But, they still have to walk through a public hallway to get from one to the other, even briefly in the temporary office building McGuire referred to as the “swing space.”
Sources said the private hallways will now bridge the two, shielding lawmakers from the public, journalists, and lobbyists who may want to speak with them right after they vote in a hearing before they get onto the elevator.
“I think this is the height of hypocrisy,” said Assemblyman Josh Hoover, R-Folsom, who said he has yet to get an update on the project. “You are using taxpayer dollars for a taxpayer-funded facility and yet you are going to design it in a way that shields you from the public and shields you from accountability.”
KCRA 3 has requested documents and diagrams to provide more insight into the private hallways and was still waiting for that information from the Joint Rules Committee as of Monday.
Dick Cowan, the ex-chairman of the Historic State Capitol Commission who was part of the group that sued over the project, noted extra security expenses were discussed following the January 6 attack in Washington D.C.
“The Capitol police in Washington D.C., were able to escort our nation’s legislators safely through some corridors into safe rooms at the Capitol while the rioters were occupying the Capitol,” Cowan said. “Shortly after that, managers for the Capitol annex project announced the project was 5% to 10% over budget.”
Former Joint Rules Committee Chairman Ken Cooley then said in a budget hearing that the project needed 10% more money for security reasons. Cooley ended up losing his seat in the Assembly to Hoover in 2022 and some critics point to his handling of the project.
“We are just guessing, but if one were to say, ‘Yeah, we had to invest an additional $100,000,000 to create these potential escape corridors,’ that would make sense,” Cowan said.
Those conversations happened in 2021. It’s not clear how much will ultimately be spent on security expenses.
|
Play Video
No construction happening on west side visitor’s center?
“At this time, our priority is to complete the Annex. There is no discussion or construction occurring on the West side,” Lia Lopez, the chief administrative officer for the Joint Rules Committee, told KCRA 3 in an email.
The west side construction was part of a lawsuit filed by Cowan and a group of project opponents and environmentalists who said lawmakers overseeing the project did not get enough public feedback before moving forward with the plan overall. The group also raised questions about the project’s all-glass facade and the uprooting of several palm trees.
The California Supreme Court last fall ruled lawmakers could exempt the project as a whole from the California Environmental Quality Act, which cleared the way for lawmakers to move forward.
It has since been unclear what would happen with the west side.
Cowan questions whether the legislature is sincere in stating that there is no discussion or construction happening there. He estimates the public should expect about $100,000,000 in savings if the west side visitor’s center does not happen.
“What frustrates me is, as a lawmaker that is going to potentially be in this building some day, we have almost zero information about what’s going on there and I think we deserve that information, and so do our taxpayers and constituents,” Assemblyman Hoover said.
The money so far
According to the California Department of Finance, the project so far is approximately $1.1 billion funded entirely with money from the state’s general fund.
As of April 7 of this year, $700 million has been transferred to the Legislature’s operating account to fund the design and construction activities. That money was transferred last year.
As for the rest, $250 million was expected to be transferred for this budget year and another $150 million in the next budget year.
The Department of Finance said the project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2027. The Joint Rules Committee has not yet confirmed that publicly.
