March 1, 2019
Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said Thursday the federal government has a right to have California return the money it was given to build a high-speed train from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Ms. Chao said California dramatically changed its plans under the original contract signed in 2017, since the state now is only building the rail between two rural communities.
She said out of the $3 billion allotted to the project of federal funds, the state still hasn’t received $929 million, which she says the Trump administration will keep. She also said out of the roughly $2.5 billion already transferred to the state, California has until March 5 to make its case on why the funds shouldn’t be returned..........To Read More....
Showing posts with label Train. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Train. Show all posts
Saturday, March 2, 2019
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Trump administration to cancel $929 million in California high-speed rail funding
Ralph Vartabedian, Matthew Ormseth
The U.S. Transportation Department announced Tuesday it would attempt to cancel $929 million in federal grant funds for California’s troubled high-speed rail project.
The move marks an escalation in the war between President Trump and California in the days since Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a rethinking of the bullet train project after years of cost overruns.
The Transportation Department also announced it was “actively exploring every legal option to seek the return from California of $2.5 billion in federal funds.” It’s unclear whether it has the legal authority to do so, and California would probably oppose such a move.
In a short statement, federal officials said California had “failed to make reasonable progress” on the project and questioned whether it could be completed on the schedule in the grants......To Read More...
My Take - As my friend Robin noted:
The U.S. Transportation Department announced Tuesday it would attempt to cancel $929 million in federal grant funds for California’s troubled high-speed rail project.
The Transportation Department also announced it was “actively exploring every legal option to seek the return from California of $2.5 billion in federal funds.” It’s unclear whether it has the legal authority to do so, and California would probably oppose such a move.
In a short statement, federal officials said California had “failed to make reasonable progress” on the project and questioned whether it could be completed on the schedule in the grants......To Read More...
My Take - As my friend Robin noted:
Good gawd.CA gov. saying he's going to cancel the bullet train BUT complete the portion in the rural central valley to be able to hang onto federal money is INSANE.
That stretch was long ago dubbed the "train to nowhere" because there is virtually no use for it there as it doesn't connect any significantly sized cities. Talk about a totally crazy waste of taxpayer funds, all while they're refusing funds for something which would have major positive benefits - e.g., border control. I mean come on! We can pay $3.5 billion for a train to nowhere but cannot use the money instead for badly needed border control?
Idiocracy reigns in California.
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