California’s high-speed rail would get about $4.2 billion toward finishing the central San Joaquin Valley portion in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed state spending plan, which he unveiled Monday.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The budget describes the money going to the rail from Merced to Bakersfield as advanced work, while dollars would also go to advanced planning for the entire project.
Originally planned from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the rail project has been pared down to connecting the Central Valley without the larger city destinations on either end. In his first state of the state in 2019, Newsom said the project didn’t have the pathway to the longer route.
The project has been criticized, including from Democrats like Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, who called for the state to redirect high-speed rail money to urban transportation projects.
In the budget plan presented this week, Newsom said new money was important for “getting those final appropriations and finish(ing) the job in the Central Valley.”
The 119-mile high-speed rail project has been under construction in Fresno, Madera, Kings, Tulare and Kern counties for seven years.
Proposition 1A in 2008 provided a total of more than $9.9 billion to help pay for development and construction of high-speed rail in California.
Ahead of his big announcement Monday, Newsom had previewed that his budget would include spending some of the anticipated surplus on infrastructure, something lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they support. On Monday, he announced he wants to spend $9.1 billion on transportation.
I’m surprised the dems haven’t tried to get funding from china as part of their Belt and Road things. :/
Think about this. When the State did not have this surplus Newsom stated he would rob the State Gasoline Tax of $6 Billion for bike paths. He also stated this HSR plan was broken and should be cancelled but then threw $2 Billion at it. All within the first 2 months he was in office.
Now he wants to spend $4.2 Billion to finish a section he stated was wrong. This means his plan will cost the taxpayers an additional $6.2 Billion for a project that should have been wiped out.
Why isn’t Newsom declaring a TAX HOLIDAY and using a huge portion of the State Surplus to keep your money in your pocket. The M-1 Money Supply will stay the same but a Tax Holiday will increase the amount of money available in circulation to buy products that will support private businesses.
Understand the average Democrat doesn’t get it. It is amusing to see Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, state the money that should go back to the tax payer needs to be redirected to Urban Transportation that has failed for decades now. MTA, MTD, etc. all have lost ridership. The supposed great rail lines are not getting the needed passenger loads in Frisco, San Deigo, or Los Angeles but are promoted as the “future” ….
They have failed. Initial ridership was up and has now dropped. It costs $billions, but what the heck it is only your money and everyone knows you have thousands to burn every day.
Get a grip people you voted for these idiots. You voted for failed transportation backers. You voted for SB-9 that destroys local zoning and control.
Had enough yet? If not watch the destruction of the late great state of Kalif.
Billions being spent on California port improvements will mostly expedite and encourage IMPORTS to the USA from China. Newsom and the Democratic Party want agriculture to be shutdown permanently for create vast new suburbs in the Central Valley–residences use LESS freshwater than agriculture, by far. So, that means that the High-Speed Railway, paid for by ALL Californian taxpayers, will serve as a commuter line boosting the economics of the San Francisco Bay Area. Southern Californians can eat lithium dust from the Imperial Valley since Sacramento and San Francisco are the owners and operators of our State.
No matter want citizens want the Governor willolly help his dinners and himself.