By Karl Cooke
We're getting an update on the ongoing Capitol Annex Project in Sacramento that has seen costs exceed over one billion dollars.
After not hearing or seeing any updates on the website, the project's official website has given updated numbers on how things are progressing so far.
According to the website's latest numbers as of April of this year, the project is 55% finished.
Looking into the specifics, about 95% of the exterior is done, but the plaza skylight is finished and the building is fully enclosed.
As far as the inside of it, framing is ongoing right now with the electrical vault complete. Their transition to temporary power will start this month.
But the biggest concern for state taxpayers has been the dramatic increase in funds needed to complete this project that ballooned to over a billion dollars.
According to the project's website, there were a few factors that contributed to what they call "cost pressures".
These include pandemic era inflation, which saw construction costs increase between three to 10 percent annually, litigation delays like legal challenges that saw about $15 million in impacts among others, and supply chain and buyout costs that exceeded original costs due to global inflation.
Right now the state's Joint Rules Committee is in charge of overseeing the project with the expected completion date to be October of next year.
We reached out to one member of the committee, Blanca Pacheco, to see if we can get some more insight on the Capitol Annex Project, but have not heard back from her.
The last public address that any lawmaker from the committee, including Pacheco, made about this project was a celebration of the millionth hour worked on the project.
"Because of your effort, this building is taking shape and we are one step closer to welcoming the public back into this space," Pacheco said. "Californian's will have a safer, more accessible capitol where they can participate in their government for generations to come."
