California has yet another over-budget, unnecessary project in the works. State Democrats are intent on keeping key details about it secret, including how the money is being spent.

The Capitol Annex Project is California’s attempt to build a new Capitol building, with offices for all state legislators, the governor, and lieutenant governor, as well as new committee hearing rooms. The project also includes a new visitor center and a parking garage.

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As is the case with many California infrastructure projects, this one is over budget. The price ballooned from the original 2018 estimate of just over $540 million to $1.1 billion and counting. That is more expensive than the construction of the Sacramento Kings arena and just barely cheaper than the San Francisco 49ers stadium in Santa Clara. There are no plans to build the west side visitor center.

Much of this is also shrouded in secrecy. KCRA 3 in Sacramento has reported that more than 2,000 people have been forced to sign nondisclosure agreements to keep details of the project quiet. The project will also have private hallways for legislators, such as Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, who has been ghosting the media since January to avoid talking about the state’s many failures, so they can avoid talking to the media.

Most importantly, KCRA 3 said it cannot get answers as to “how or why the money is being spent.” (Emphasis added). The last public update on the project came in April 2021.

California has been wrestling with a budget deficit over the last several years, with the latest estimate for the 2024-25 deficit being $15 billion. That is after modest spending cuts and more spending delays that only kick the can down the road for legislators to reckon with another day. The $1.1 billion on this wasteful project to build a grand new Capitol building that is not needed is the kind of money the state shouldn’t be spending when it can’t even balance its budget.

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As we all know, the project will continue to balloon past $1.1 billion, just as the high-speed rail’s budget has increased well beyond the original estimation. Combine that with California hiding all information about how this money is being spent, and you have a bloated project that will drag on without noticeable benefit for the state, if it ever comes to fruition.

This is the kind of vanity project that is difficult to justify when things are going well for a state. When you are trying to find billions of dollars in your budget, have a track record of expensive and delayed construction projects, and are trying to hide as much information from the public as possible, it is inexcusable. And yet, this is an average day in the life of California Democratic politics.