Governor Redirects Bullet Train

Sacramento, CA — A proposal to redirect money from environmental coffers to fund high-speed rail has some Democrats switching tracks. Governor Jerry Brown has proposed using $250 million from money designated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and instead spend it on the bullet train. That has some Democrats joining Republicans trying to put the brakes on the high-speed rail project in California.

On Friday, a California lawmaker proposed legislation to scrap the bullet train all together. Republican Assemblyman Jeff Gorell filed paperwork to get a measure on the ballot to halt the bullet train by stopping its funding. The measure would not allow the sale of voter-approved bonds for the train. In addition, any money left over from bonds already sold would be used to pay off debt.

In the paperwork filed with the California Attorney General’s Office on Friday, Gorell states, “California cannot afford to pay for a high-speed train system that will cost more than $100 billion at a time when prisoners are being released from prisons and taxpayers are being asked to dig deeper into their own pockets to pay for basic services.”

The measure will need 504,760 valid voter signatures to get on the ballot.