California lawmakers are bulldozing ahead with a costly plan to demolish the East Annex, block public access to the West Steps, and destroy Capitol Park.
California is under siege – by a pandemic and catastrophic wildfires – and facing another $54 billion budget deficit. Now is not the time to burden taxpayers with a $1 billion debt for the next 30 years. It’s time to restore, increase public safety, and preserve the historic East Annex, not demolish and replace it.
More than three-quarters (76.6%) of Californians oppose the state Legislature’s plan to spend $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars to demolish the historic Capitol Annex and build extravagant new legislative office spaces, a visitor center, and an underground parking garage.
A majority of Californians (61.2%) support rehabilitating the historic Annex in its existing footprint.
"So why won’t legislators consider spending at least $500 million fewer taxpayer dollars on a safe and functional office space? It’s hard to know since the approval process ignored the California Environmental Quality Act."
Save Our Capitol! is working to preserve the historic Capitol and its surrounding Park, including hundreds of irreplaceable trees. Alternatives exist to make the Annex safe without spending $1.4 billion to excavate the West Steps, build a new parking garage, and demolish-and-rebuild the Annex, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
