Assembly Democrats kill bill to ban use of NDAs in legislative negotiations

What do they have to hide? On Thursday, the California Assembly’s Elections Committee killed legislation that would ban the use of non-disclosure agreements in legislative negotiations.

Assembly Bill 2654, introduced by Asm. Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, is hardly a controversial piece of legislation.

Fong’s rationale for the bill is straightforward: “Transparency in government is the foundation of our democracy. It builds trust and confidence in elected and government officials. The crafting of public policy should be done with full transparency, and on behalf of the public, not shielded by nondisclosure agreements.”

How could anyone disagree?

The bill was in response to PaneraGate, which Gov. Gavin Newsom would like everyone to forget as quickly as possible.

In that case, NDAs were signed among participants of legislative negotiations around the fast food minimum wage law.

While Newsom’s office oversaw the negotiations, the Service Employees International Union reportedly required participants in the negotiations around the bill to sign the NDAs.

Among the unusual results of those negotiations was a carve-out for fast food chains which “produce and sell bread as a standalone item.”

One of the apparent beneficiaries was Panera Bread, of which one of Newsom’s billionaire donors happens to own dozens of franchises in the state.

Even if everything done was totally legal, it’s all quite unseemly. Negotiations over legislation are one thing, negotiations over legislation between special interest groups bound by NDAs are another.

Hence, Fong’s proposal to ban NDAs from the legislative process.

Fong’s proposal, however, only drew two votes in favor in committee from Asm. Bill Essayli, R-Corona, and Asm. Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale.

Democrats Steve Bennett, D-Ventura, Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, and Akilah Weber, D-San Diego, refused to let the bill move forward. Giving them cover was the California Chamber of Commerce, which bizarrely came out in defense of NDAs in the legislative process.

Essayli tweeted in response to the hearing: “NDAs have no business in the legislative process. The People have a right to know when Gavin Newsom’s major donor gets his Panera businesses exempted from a minimum wage bill. But NDAs between big business and labor unions shielded the negotiation process from the public.

When trying to pass a bill to ban NDAs to stop this corruption, the Elections Committee today silenced me, cut my mic, and killed the bill.

What are big lobbyists at [California Chamber of Commerce] trying to hide? Why won’t Democrats in the Assembly stop the use of NDAs?”

These are good questions from Essayli.

Underscoring how ridiculous Assembly Democrats are, the left-wing Sacramento Bee editorial board opined, “In killing this bill, California Democrats proved they’re lap dogs for Gov. Newsom.” It didn’t take this particular vote to reach that conclusion, but that’s absolutely correct.

Transparency in the legislative process is not a partisan issue. The Golden State cannot have effective governance if special interests are calling the shots and our elected representatives are unwilling to do what’s right.