SACRAMENTO — Calling 2026 "the most transparent year in the history of the state," officials announced Thursday that the state had met its goal of 100% government transparency under the Retroactive Disclosure Framework, a policy that guarantees residents will learn about every government decision in full, in plain English and on time, with "on time" now defined as "shortly after."
"Every single action this state took this year has been disclosed," said Marla Fenwick, deputy director of the newly created Office of Timely Information, at a press conference announced in a press release that went out once the press conference had ended. "Not one secret. We didn't hide the truth. We just changed when it arrives. You can't call a decision secret if we tell you about it. Eventually."
Under the framework, agencies may raise fees, approve projects, rezone neighborhoods and close things, so long as they publish a public notice within 30 business days afterward. Public comment periods are still held for every major decision, officials stressed. They now open and close before the notice goes up, a change Fenwick said had "eliminated the public comment backlog entirely."
"Last year, residents sent us thousands of comments, and somebody had to read every one of them," she said. "This year we received zero. That is either a sign of total public satisfaction or a sign that the comment period closed in March. Either way the number is zero, and zero is a very transparent number."
Officials said the framework builds on a proud record. They pointed to the state's law requiring refineries to give advance notice before they shut down, under which Valero told the California Energy Commission in April 2025 that it would idle, restructure or stop operations at its Benicia refinery, about 9 percent of the state's refining capacity, by the end of April 2026. "That law worked perfectly," Fenwick said. "We knew a full year ahead. Knowing was the goal. Nobody ever said anything had to happen with the knowing."
The same thinking now applies to public records. In May, a state appeals court ruled in Voice of San Diego v. San Diego Unified School District that the California Public Records Act sets no fixed deadline for handing over records, only that they be made "promptly available," judged case by case. The Office of Timely Information has since defined "promptly" as "before the heat death of the universe, subject to staffing."
"We are now prompt by definition," Fenwick said. "It's the only deadline we've never missed."
Officials said the state was "keeping pace" with Washington, where the backlog of federal Freedom of Information Act requests grew 27 percent across agencies in 2025, according to FOIA.gov figures cited by the National Archives, and rose 131 percent at the Department of Veterans Affairs alone. "We studied the federal model very closely," Fenwick said. "Then we filed a records request for the federal model. It should arrive in 2031."
The Advance Notice Generator
Tell the state what you would like advance notice of. Pick one or type your own, and the Office will issue an official notice right away, as required by law.
- Proposed action
- Public comment period
- Took effect
- Notice issued
- Office's note
Notices are issued within 30 business days of the action they announce, which is the same as being early if you count from the end. Comment extensions move the closing date further into the past to give staff more time to prepare for comments that can no longer arrive.
Residents say they have noticed the change. Gloria Pruitt, 58, of Elk Grove, said she first learned of the new freeway through her kitchen from a commemorative plaque mounted on the freeway. "The plaque was very clear," she said. "Large type, two languages and a QR code that links to the public hearing, which was held in 2024 in a room that is now also the freeway."
The Office of Timely Information was itself created by an executive order announced in October, signed in June and effective as of January. Its first annual report, Transparency 2026: A Look Back, is scheduled for release in 2027 and will cover events officials described as "currently underway."
Some open-government advocates have complained that a notice posted after a decision is, in effect, a receipt. Fenwick welcomed the comparison. "A receipt is one of the most transparent documents ever devised," she said. "It tells you exactly what happened and exactly what you paid. It just doesn't ask you first."
The state now grades itself on the new Hindsight Index, which awards one point for every decision disclosed, whenever it is disclosed. The state scored 100 for the third year running, up from 100. Agencies that announce things before doing them lose points for "premature disclosure," which Fenwick said "confuses people, invites opinions and has, historically, led to meetings."
Track Your Records Request
Choose the records you want, submit your request and watch it move through the system in real time, or something like it. When the documents arrive, tap the black bars to see what was redacted.
- Received
- Acknowledged
- Under review
- Promptly
- Released
Business days do not include weekends, holidays, staff training, the week before a holiday, the week after a holiday or any day on which the request was looked at. Redactions protect deliberative process, personal privacy and the element of surprise.
Lawmakers this session also took up a bill that critics said would give agencies more time to answer records requests. One journalism professor warned it could make California the most secretive state in the country. "Most secretive is a ranking," Fenwick said, "and rankings are public. So, if anything, that is transparency."
Asked what the state would do next, Fenwick declined to say, explaining that it would be inappropriate to discuss decisions before they had been made, and more inappropriate to discuss them while they were being made. She promised a full and candid accounting afterward. "You'll be the first to know," she said, "in the sense that you'll be among the people who know."
At press time, the state had issued a notice announcing the publication of this article, effective last week.
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