Issue #1 — The Sacramento Sentinel
The Machine Was Never Meant to Be Seen — June 2025
📡 WHY WE’RE HERE
California is governed by a supermajority so large, it can pass nearly anything without resistance. Thousands of bills move through the Capitol every year—quietly, often invisibly. Most never make headlines. Most never get read. Most never get challenged.
The public gets final outcomes.
But the real decisions?
They happen behind closed doors.
That’s why we’re launching The Sacramento Sentinel:
A civic intelligence system to track the power plays no one else is watching.
We don’t chase scandal. We follow the ball.
We see the game—and name it in public.
This isn’t a newsletter.
This is oversight.
And it starts with the bill that tells us just how hidden the system has become.
🧱 ESSENTIAL BILL #1: AB 1370
“Legislative Transparency and NDA Prohibition Act”
Author: Asm. Joe Patterson (R–Rocklin)
Status: Assembly – Appropriations Committee
AB 1370 makes it a crime for California lawmakers to sign or compel non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) related to their official duties—specifically:
Drafting legislation
Negotiating the use of public funds
Participating in state-sponsored policy negotiations
Violations could be charged as misdemeanors or felonies, enforceable by local DAs.
This isn't theoretical. It’s a direct response to two high-profile scandals:
🏗️ Capitol Annex Project
A multi-billion-dollar rebuild of the State Capitol shrouded in NDAs. Legislators, consultants, and insiders were contractually forbidden from speaking publicly about its scope and terms.
California Legislature uses NDA for Capitol Annex Project
🍔 Fast Food Minimum Wage Deal
Wage-setting negotiations between industry and labor groups reportedly required NDAs, shielding the policy process from public view—until the law was signed.
These weren’t edge cases.
They were symptoms of a deeper condition:
The rise of legislative secrecy as standard operating procedure.
California Fast Food NDAs
⚠️ THE LOOPHOLE THAT EXPOSES THE GAME
At first glance, AB 1370 looks like a transparency win.
But there’s a catch—a precise and damning one:
🔒 The bill does NOT apply to staffers, lobbyists, consultants, or contractors.
These are the very people who write, shape, and negotiate legislation day-to-day.
By exempting them, the bill:
Preserves the core machinery of backroom governance
Protects lawmakers from scrutiny while scapegoating process leaks
Creates the appearance of reform without opening the system
In short: It names the problem, then shields it.
But in naming the problem, it does something important:
It confirms the machine exists.
It admits what was long denied.
For example, 2,093 people signed NDAs in connection to the Capitol building renovation project, far more than Assembly Members and Senators.
🧠 WHAT THIS BILL REVEALS
AB 1370 is about more than secrecy.
It reveals the operating logic of California governance:
Private deals determine public laws
Voters are offered final bills, but not origin stories
Legislative theater replaces actual consent
The people are being asked to watch a game where the scoreboard is off and the rules change mid-play.
We’re not here to complain about that.
We’re here to fix it.
📂 Want the full dossier with citations, loophole breakdowns, and legislative tracking?
→ Read the AB 1370 Dossier
🛡️ WHAT THE SENTINEL WILL DO
The Sacramento Sentinel exists to:
Surface high-impact, low-coverage legislation
Track long-term “Franchise Conflicts” (Housing, Tech, Labor, Transparency, etc.)
Give you plain-language dossiers, play-by-play votes, and real-time alerts
Build tools for a public that wants to see again
We’re not pretending to be neutral.
We’re not here to make you feel informed.
We’re here to restore sight to a blindfolded Republic.
This is your capital. These are your laws.
🔭 COMING NEXT:
AB 736 – $10 Billion Housing Bond (The Fuel Behind Density Reform)
AB 853 – AI Transparency or Tech Capture? You Decide.
Franchise Conflict Maps: Housing 🏘️ | Tech 💻 | Transparency ⚖️