Plans to boost transparency surrounding lobbyists who write to influence legislative decisions in Sacramento have been put on hold. California lawmakers rejected two bills that would have required lobbyist letters to be accessible by the public, instead opting to explore other options for increasing accessibility that do not require legislation.
The pair of nearly identical bills—Assembly Bill 2063 and Assembly Bill 2557—would have required the legislature to electronically publish all letters, including position letters sent by lobbyists, that are received through the legislature’s internet portal page regarding each bill.
However, the two bills never received a hearing in the Assembly Rules Committee and missed a key legislative deadline.
Bills introduced in the state Assembly must have been passed and sent to the state Senate by May 29 to continue their legislative journey this year. As such, AB 2063 and AB 2557 will not proceed.
Assembly Rules Committee Chair Blanca Pacheco’s office told The Epoch Times in an email that lawmakers will look into other options for increasing public access to such letters.
“Assemblywoman Pacheco supports the goal of improving public access to position letters, and as Rules Chair, she’s interested in identifying practical ways to make that information more accessible without requiring legislation,” the email statement said.
Position letters in support of or against bills are submitted via the Assembly’s internal letter portal, which is not designed to publish thousands of letters, according to her office.
The state Assembly is now working with its technology staff to “determine whether the existing internal system can be updated in a way that is secure and adheres to accessibility requirements. A larger rebuild may require a more formal process and funding discussion,” Pacheco’s office added.
The staff is also looking into the “technical, privacy, accessibility, and cost considerations” that need addressing before any letter is made public, the office stated.
Currently, members of the public can request access to position letters from lobbyist groups through the Legislative Open Records Act (LORA) process. After a person submits a request for information, the Assembly Rules Committee generally takes between three and ten days to fulfill the request, according to the Assembly’s website.
As for the two bills that failed to pass, the Democrat-backed AB 2557 would have allowed access to position letters without the LORA process, as all letters received by the legislature would have been added to the list of information publicly available online.
Identical in purpose, Republican-backed AB 2063 further specified that the legislature would “ensure that letters made available to the public ... do not disclose confidential information or otherwise infringe on individual privacy.”
“Position letters from organizations, unions, businesses, and advocacy groups play a key role in informing lawmakers about the potential impacts of proposed laws,” the office of Assemblymember Greg Wallis, author of AB 2063, stated in a February press release.
“This bill is about basic transparency: letting people see the input that shapes our laws while protecting sensitive personal information. It’s a practical reform that strengthens trust in the process without adding unnecessary burdens or costs,” Wallis said in the press release.
AB 2557 received support from Common Cause California, a grassroots organization focused on government accountability.
“If advocacy materials are important enough for legislators and staff to review while making policy decisions, the public should generally have timely access to those same materials,” the organization stated on its website.
The bills would have modernized the current disclosure system, allowed for timely public access, and reduced the administrative burden of disclosing such letters, according to Common Cause California.
10 States With Public Comments Access
The organization included a list of 10 states that have already adopted various measures to increase public access to position letters on bills.
“California is behind many other states when it comes to online public access to legislative testimony and written comments,” Common Cause California wrote.
Connecticut’s state legislature publishes all public comments and testimonies it receives on each individual bill’s web page. The comments can be listed as anonymous or with the name of the person or organization that submitted the comments.
Similarly, New Hampshire’s state legislature publishes summaries of comments given at committee hearings under a “Hearing Rpt” tab on each bill’s web page.
Other states that publish public comments, testimonies, and position letters include Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.
