In a move that could crack open one of Sacramento’s quieter back rooms, two California lawmakers are pushing matching transparency bills that would finally let the public see the letters lobbyists and advocacy groups file to support or oppose legislation. These documents, known as position letters, are already submitted through a secure online portal that staff and legislators can access, but regular Californians cannot. Supporters say putting the letters online would give voters a much sharper view of who is really trying to shape state law.
Assemblymember Greg Wallis introduced AB 2063 on Feb. 18, and Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan followed with AB 2557 on Feb. 20. Both measures would require that position letters submitted through the Legislature’s portal be added to the materials the Legislative Counsel must post online, and Wallis’ bill specifies that the change would begin with the 2027–28 Regular Session. California Legislative Information now lists AB 2063 alongside AB 2557, which also appears in the state’s California Legislative Information system.
Portal access and why transparency backers pushed the bills
CalMatters reports it spent more than a year asking the Legislature for copies of the letters filed through the portal, only to be turned down under existing rules. That denial effectively kept the records hidden from public view. According to CalMatters, the outlet’s Digital Democracy database plans to add the letters if they ever become public, which transparency advocates say would make it far easier to track who is lining up for or against each bill.
The pitch from the bill authors and some good-government groups is fairly straightforward: position letters often include suggested changes, technical fixes and policy arguments that reveal a bill’s likely real-world impact. Assemblymember Wallis told CalMatters he was surprised the documents were not already public. Some longtime lobbyists, on the other hand, warn that handling and posting hundreds of letters could strain committee staff and raise privacy concerns, especially for individuals who sign on.
How the position-letter portal works
The Legislature operates a position-letter portal that lets registered lobbyists, organizations and individuals upload letters tied to specific bills. Advocacy groups frequently use the system to send identical or customized letters to committee staff and bill authors in bulk. A public-facing guide from a state agency and other stakeholder materials walk users through registration types and submission steps. Los Angeles Community College District publishes one such guide, pointing readers to the portal, explaining who can register and outlining how to upload a letter.
What happens next
Both bills must still move through committee hearings and floor votes before they could reach the governor’s desk, and Wallis’ proposal explicitly phases in the requirement starting with the 2027–28 session. In a press release, Assemblymember Greg Wallis framed AB 2063 as a low-cost transparency upgrade meant to align California’s published legislative materials with what some other states already provide and to cut down on staff time spent filling repeat records requests. His office said the change is designed to bolster public trust without exposing sensitive personal details.
Legal implications
The letters at the center of this fight are already treated as legislative records under California’s Legislative Open Records Act, which spells out how people can request legislative documents and how the Rules Committees handle those requests. The law gives the Legislature some discretion over exemptions and sets out procedures for inspecting and copying records. The new bills would not replace that framework, but they would tweak it by requiring proactive online publication instead of forcing the public to ask for the documents one by one. The California State Assembly explains the existing process for examining legislative records on its Legislative Open Records Act page.
For now, the clash is mostly procedural, but the stakes are real: if the bills advance, they could change how lobbyists, nonprofits and companies communicate with lawmakers and how reporters and researchers track influence at the Capitol. Whether legislative leaders actually prioritize the measures this year is still an open question, but supporters argue that putting the letters online would finally let voters see the who and the why behind the thousands of bills Sacramento churns through every session.
