{"slug": "bill-to-stop-nondisclosure-agreements-moves-to-gov-newsoms-desk", "title": "Bill to stop nondisclosure agreements moves to Gov. Newsom’s desk", "summary": "California's Senate Bill 994, authored by Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, passed the Legislature unanimously and now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk, prohibiting local elected officials from signing nondisclosure agreements that prevent them from sharing public business information with fellow board or council members. The bill was prompted by an NDA signed by Vacaville Mayor John Carli while considering information related to Saronic Technologies' proposed autonomous drone shipyard in Solano County, which ultimately moved to Brownsville, Texas.", "body_md": "**Getting your**\n\n[Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...A bill to prevent local elected officials from being bound by nondisclosure agreements involving public business is headed to the governor after passing the California Legislature without a single no vote.\n\nSenate Bill 994, authored by Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, passed the Legislature Wednesday. The bill prohibits local government officials from signing nondisclosure agreements that prevent them from sharing information about public business with fellow board or council members.\n\nCabaldon said the legislation was prompted by an NDA signed by Vacaville Mayor John Carli while Carli was considering information related to California Forever’s efforts to bring Saronic Technologies’ autonomous drone shipyard to its property in Solano County.\n\n“The signing of an NDA in Suisun exposed a loophole in the law,” Cabaldon said.\n\nThe episode centered on Saronic’s exploration of a potential shipyard at Collinsville in southeastern Solano County. Carli, who is seeking a seat on the Solano County Board of Supervisors, acknowledged signing an NDA with Saronic as he sought information about the proposed project.\n\nThe agreement drew criticism from opponents and community members, who argued that an elected official should not sign what they characterized as a “gag order” that could limit the sharing of information about a project with other elected officials or the public.\n\nCarli defended the agreement as necessary to become “privy to information” that would allow him to evaluate the economic and national security implications of the proposed shipyard.\n\nCarli also pushed back against descriptions of the agreement as one with California Forever, saying in a statement that he “did not sign an NDA with California Forever, and California Forever does not own Saronic.”\n\n“Saronic is a shipbuilding company exploring a potential shipyard in Solano County,” Carli said.\n\nOn Thursday, Carli responded to a request for comment on the bill saying, “While I don’t often agree with Senator Cabaldon on many issues, I too believe that local officials shouldn’t use NDAs to keep their governing body or the public in the dark about public business.”\n\nNoting his comments that he signed an NDA with a third party, not California Forever, he said it was “in order to visit their manufacturing facility” and that the NDA was “narrowly limited to trade secrets and proprietary business information, exactly the kind of exemption SB 994 preserves, and it never restricted me from discussing public business with officials or constituents.”\n\nCarli said elected officials have a responsibility to remain objective about projects that could eventually come before local government for approval, adding that NDAs “should never block elected officials from communicating openly with thee people they serve.” And he said he was glad to see that principle extended to local government.\n\nCarli also took aim at Cabaldon.\n\n“In the final days of the legislative session, it’s disappointing that instead of addressing job creation or affordability, Senator Cabaldon is focused on non-disclosure agreements and continues to show he is out of touch with working families of Solano County.”\n\nThe proposed Saronic shipyard ultimately did not move forward in Solano County. The company later chose Brownsville, Texas, for its drone shipbuilding operation, bypassing the California Forever plan.\n\nCabaldon’s bill extends to local elected officials a restriction already in place for state lawmakers. Under SB 994, local officials cannot enter into an NDA that prevents them from sharing information concerning public business with other members of their governing body.\n\n“Fully informed decisions rely on transparency,” Cabaldon said. “When one official is silenced by a nondisclosure agreement, the rest of the board is left working with an incomplete picture, and communities pay the price for decisions made without all the facts. This bill makes sure that never happens.”\n\nThe legislation received unanimous support in every committee and floor vote in both the Senate and Assembly, according to Cabaldon’s office.\n\nThe bill is intended to ensure that local governing bodies have access to the same information when making decisions on matters of public business and that those decisions are made openly, his office noted.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/bill-to-stop-nondisclosure-agreements-moves-to-gov-newsoms-desk", "canonical_source": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/08/21/cabaldon-bill-to-stop-nondisclosure-agreements-moves-to-governors-desk/", "published_at": "2026-08-21 14:03:39+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-21 14:43:57.326641+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy"], "entities": ["Christopher Cabaldon", "John Carli", "California Forever", "Saronic Technologies", "Solano County Board of Supervisors", "Gavin Newsom", "Vacaville"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/bill-to-stop-nondisclosure-agreements-moves-to-gov-newsoms-desk", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/bill-to-stop-nondisclosure-agreements-moves-to-gov-newsoms-desk.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/bill-to-stop-nondisclosure-agreements-moves-to-gov-newsoms-desk.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/bill-to-stop-nondisclosure-agreements-moves-to-gov-newsoms-desk.jsonld"}}