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Secretary of State seeks nearly $6M for building security; HAVA grant to fund election security work
Summary
The Secretary of State presented a $5.96 million request to complete building security upgrades, outlined a $1.93 million HAVA federal grant (20% state match required), and explained departments' role in CSPS payroll readiness; committee queried scope, cost escalation, and use of HAVA funds for voter education and misinformation efforts.
The Secretary of State presented three May Revision items: a $5,962,000 request to complete phase 3 of building security improvements for the Secretary of State complex, a federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) award of $1,930,000 with a required 20% state match ($386,000) for 2026 election security work, and allotments to support the California State Payroll System (CSPS) readiness activities.
Kristen Dagscher, interim chief financial officer for the Secretary of State, said the security request follows assessments by the Department of General Services and the California Highway Patrol and focuses on surveillance, monitoring, moving public access to the first two floors only, and centralized public customer-service areas. "This request of $5,962,000 is needed to fully fund phase 3 for completing the building improvements to fully eliminate security vulnerabilities," she said. Committee members asked why the estimate rose from $3.1 million in 2022 to about $10.27 million in April 2026; Shannon Hoffman (business operations chief) attributed the increase to construction inflation, added scope revealed in detailed design, and unique architectural constraints that require added work and access panels.
On election security, Nikisha Robinson (Deputy Secretary of State over HAVA) said the federal grant may be used for voting equipment, registration systems, cyber and physical security, voter education and accessibility, and combating AI-generated mis/disinformation; the grant has been disbursed and is available until fully expended. A public commenter representing a California Democracy Partnership urged spending focused on voter education, county grants, cybersecurity and litigation funds to safeguard ballot processing and access.
The CSPS item will provide departmental readiness allotments for the statewide payroll system scheduled for August 2028; the Secretary of State has no existing reimbursement authority and worked with DOF to establish allotment and interagency reimbursement language.
Ending: Committee held items open and asked follow-up questions on cost drivers for security work and HAVA program implementation details.
