By Ashley Zavala
Construction on the California State Capitol Annex is set to be complete in exactly a year, in October of 2027.
The taxpayer-funded project has faced significant delays and secrecy. Over the last few months, we have repeatedly requested a tour of the construction, but project leaders said a media tour was not possible at this point.
Since we could not look forward and what's ahead for the project, On California Politics 360, Ashley Zavala looked back at the decade-long process to build the new offices for the governor and state lawmakers.
On Jan. 7, 2016, then Gov. Jerry Brown proposed to replace and renovate state buildings around the Capitol.
“You’ve got to fix the basics. These buildings, after a very careful independent analysis, indicate they are deteriorating. You must invest money,” Brown said.
During that legislative year, lawmakers passed a $1.3 billion funding plan for the proposed annex and the construction of a new temporary office space for lawmakers, which is now known as "The Swing Space" on O Street in Sacramento.
California lawmakers received a report outlining the deficiencies in the 1952 East Annex building. The design firm, CSHQA, said the annex wasn’t up to code; it had asbestos and it was not compliant with disability standards.
The report outlined, “The existing Capitol Annex layout is not conducive for elected officials to work with the public. The existing structural system limits the ability to provide new large hearing rooms or auditoriums with column-free view paths and appropriate ceiling heights.”
The same design firm released a report in January 2018 outlining the potential construction costs of the Capitol Annex.
In the report, the firm estimated the Annex would cost $506.8 million, the parking structure would cost $6.4 million, and the visitor’s center would cost $29.9 million. In total, the firm estimated it would cost the state about $543 million. The firm estimated the cost based on existing costs for government buildings constructed within the past 10 years, the report said.
During the legislative year in 2018, lawmakers passed a series of laws to get the project underway. The laws, SB840, AB1826 and AB 2667, were designed to fund the project and set design requirements that would complement the historic State Capitol.
In May 2019, crews broke ground on the temporary office building that would house the Governor and state lawmakers during construction of the Capitol Annex.
Two years later, in December 2021, lawmakers moved into their new office space.
In 2021, the group ‘Save Our Capitol’ filed an environmental lawsuit. The group is made up of environmentalists and former members of the now-defunct Historic State Capitol Commission. They argued the annex violated state environmental laws. The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, protects the state’s historic resources, such as the Capitol Annex and Capitol Park. Opponents of the project argued the glass façade and the removal of trees violated state law. Two judges agreed.
On March 22, 2021, the Joint Committee on Rules held its last public hearing on the taxpayer-funded Capitol Annex project. According to the Capitol Annex website, the committee held eight meetings in total, dating back to July 6, 2017.
This would also be the last time the public would get a cost estimate on the project for years, at an estimated $1.1 billion.
In 2024, the lawmakers and the governor decided to exempt the annex project from CEQA. They did it during the state’s budget negotiations, when major decisions are fast-tracked with little public review and tucked into the budget for the upcoming year.
A state appeals court sided with state leaders and determined the project was officially exempt from environmental laws. Construction on the Capitol Annex project ramped up.
For years, state leaders left taxpayers in the dark about project decisions and costs that were being determined and discussed behind closed doors. In September 2024, Zavala uncovered that more than 2,000 people signed non-disclosure agreements, keeping broad information about the project confidential.
A total of 2,093 people signed the NDA, according to a list Joint Rules provided to KCRA 3 through a Legislative Open Records Act Request. The list includes three current state lawmakers: Joint Rules Chair Assembly Member Blanca Pacheco, Vice Chair State Sen. John Laird, and former chair Assembly Member James Ramos.
In November 2018, the Joint Rules Committee, the California Department of Finance and the Department of General Services established a memorandum of understanding on the planning and construction of the Capitol Annex project. The memo also established the non-disclosure agreement that would eventually be signed by thousands of people on the public project.
With information protected under NDAs, the estimated price tag of the project doubled, from about $540 million to $1.2 billion.
Also in September 2024, Zavala learned that the California legislature quietly spent $5.2 million to have granite mined in the Central Valley, shipped to Italy to be finished into bricks and sent back to the state to be used on a part of the exterior of the eventual new Capitol Annex building. The stonework is a small part of the $1.2 billion Capitol Annex project.
In December 2023, the 2 million pounds of granite was mined from a quarry operated by Coldspring in Raymond, California. The granite was then shipped by boat to Italy to be fabricated by the Santucci Group, a company located in Carrara in the central coastal region of the country. In September 2026, the stonework returned to the State Capitol and was being installed.
In 2025, Zavala made it her mission to get answers from the people in charge of the project, specifically for them to tell the public how much this building would cost.
She repeatedly asked for information and interviews with project leaders, Democrats Assembly Member Blanca Pacheco and State Senator John Laird. They had been leading the Joint Rules Committee, which oversees the project, since 2023.
After months of requesting interviews, Zavala went to Gov. Gavin Newsom for answers.
“Is that appropriate, though? Truly for the public to not know how much that building costs?” Zavala asked the governor.
“They should know; that’s what I said they should know. I agree, it’s inappropriate. By the way, I did not know they were not talking to you. I apologize. The members of the legislature not talking to you. They're on recess. I’ll check in with them. Let me know. I am happy to help you try to get access to members of the California legislature. With respect, not my branch of government, but I’m happy because as a taxpayer, I’d like to know as well,” Newsom said during a press conference in October 2025.
Days later, Zavala reported that Newsom’s director of operations had been part of a small group that’s expected to meet and vote on final decisions about the project behind closed doors. Everyone in the group signed NDAs. The Governor’s Office said its only role is to approve major design, budget and security changes directly related to the physical governor’s office in the new Capitol Annex. Newsom will never use the new Capitol Annex as governor. He terms out in January.
In December, after months of requesting interviews, the project leaders sat down with Zavala via Zoom. In the interview, the two leaders said they had spent $518 million on the Annex. They wouldn’t provide an overall updated price tag.
Following the interview, Zavala learned the committee got rid of the main consulting firm working on the project, MOCA Systems. They replaced them with a firm called Gilbane. As of October 2026, leaders have not explained the decision.
In late 2025, project leaders promised to be more transparent about the process and cost of building the Annex. In 2026, Zavala requested interviews and updated information from the Joint Committee on Rules in the first three months of the year.
But with no updates and still little information, Zavala had to track down the leaders at the State Capitol for an update ahead of spring break.
In May 2026, project leaders Assembly Member Pacheco and State Senator Laird sat down with Zavala in-person for another interview. They said the overall project rose $98 million from the December 2025 interview. The new updated cost was $1.2 billion. However, state leaders refused to provide documents to prove the cost.
Zavala formally requested documents related to Turner Construction, the main company building the Annex. She specifically asked for the periodic or monthly reports the company is providing to project leaders. It includes the forecast of the cost at completion. Project leaders said they won’t hand over those records until the building is finished in fall 2027.
Ahead of the one-year mark, California Politics 360 asked for a media tour of the Annex project so far.
In an email, the Assembly Rules committee stated, “More than 550 crew members are working on-site, making the active construction zone particularly congested and a media tour not feasible at this stage of the project. When we are further along on the project, it will be much safer and easier to provide a tour, and we look forward to doing so.”
The Assembly Rules committee provided a video highlighting several key design details. They also promised to share an updated project budget on the Annex website soon.
We do know several state lawmakers and staff have seen the construction, according to a list provided by the Senate Pro Tem's office. The Senators include Senator Ben Allen, former Senator Toni Atkins, Senator Bob Archuleta, Senator Angelique Ashby, Senator Josh Becker, Senator Catherine Blakespear, Senator John Laird, Senator Monique Limón, Senator Mike McGuire, and Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares.
Officials with the State Assembly would not provide the list of people from that chamber who have seen the construction.
According to the Annex website, the new office space for state lawmakers and the governor is set to be completed in October 2027.
