California bill would ban NDAs for legislative negotiations: 'This should not happen again'

His bill would invalidate future legislation that is crafted using signed non-disclosure agreements.

As an amendment to the state’s Political Reform Act, the bill needs support from two-thirds of lawmakers and the governor to become law.

Asked whether he believes the proposal can reach that level of support, Fong said it’s “a question for legislative Democrats and the governor. Do they value transparency? Do they endorse the use of NDAs to shield information from the public and the legislature?”

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom said the bill “wouldn’t change anything for our office.”

“The Governor’s office doesn’t sign NDAs, for legislation or anything else,” Newsom spokesman Alex Stack wrote in an email. “Having said that, we typically don’t weigh in on hypothetical or pending legislation.”

The California Chamber of Commerce has already coming out against the bill. In a letter to Fong Friday, the business group said California law already “ensures transparency” and that NDAs are “critical to allowing frank discussions around complicated issues.”

The bill will force state lawmakers to decide whether nondisclosure agreements have a place in future legislative negotiations.

“NDAs have a role in litigation (and are used) to protect financial or proprietary data and trade secrets in corporate disputes,” said Chris Micheli, an adjunct professor at the McGeorge School of Law at University of the Pacific and a longtime Sacramento lobbyist. “The question raised here is: is it inappropriate to use them in the lawmaking process?”

Micheli, like Assemblyman Fong, added that he had never heard of NDAs being used in legislative negotiations during his roughly 30 years of lobbying.

Fong’s bill will be heard in the Assembly Elections Committee on Thursday.

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