Feds pull bullet train funding
Noncompliance with agreement cited in canceling $929 million in grant funds for high-speed rail
In another black eye for California’s bullet train, the Federal Railroad Administration on Tuesday said it would cancel $929 million in federal grant funds awarded by the Obama administration, saying the beleaguered project had failed to deliver on key milestones in the agreement.
Gov. Gavin Newsom shot back, calling the letter “clear political retribution” from President Donald Trump. The letter — which threatened to explore “all available legal options” for canceling another $2.5 billion in federal funds — came just 24 hours after California led 16 states in challenging Trump’s declaration that the country is facing a national emergency necessitating a border wall with Mexico.
“This is clear political retribution by President Trump, and we won’t sit idly by,” Newsom said in a statement. “This is California’s money, and we are going to fight for it.”
The latest spat between Newsom and Trump comes just a few days after Newsom backpedaled from remarks he made during his State of the State address last week, saying the project, as planned, “would cost too much and take too long.” He said his administration would focus on getting the project’s Central Valley segment up and running, completing a high-speed rail link between Merced and Bakersfield. He then said later that wouldn’t preclude eventually building out the entire line from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
The letter, sent Tuesday, specifically called out Newsom’s comments, calling them evidence of a “significant retreat from the state’s initial vision and commitment” that “frustrates the purpose for which federal funding was awarded.”
It also detailed areas where the state was obligated under its agreement with the federal government to meet certain requirements but failed to do so. Specifically, railroad Adminis-
trator Ronald Batory said the California High-Speed Rail Authority had promised to commit $142 million in state funds to advance final design and construction activities by December 2018 but reported only $48 million in actual expenditures.
Nor has it met its project schedule, Batory said, making it unlikely that it will meet its deadline for completion.
And the authority has failed to provide the railroad administration with satisfactory financial reports, he said.
“For example, since 2016, (the railroad administration) has found over 40 reports and deliverables are delinquent or do not contain the type of information or level of detail necessary” to allow the administration to oversee the authority’s performance, Batory wrote.
It’s an allegation Newsom himself acknowledged in his speech last week, saying,
“There’s been too little oversight and not enough transparency.” The project’s costs have ballooned from an initial estimate of $33 billion to $77 billion and is four years behind schedule.
A spokeswoman for the high-speed rail authority said it would respond to the railroad administration’s comments “in a few days.” The authority has until March 5 to submit a written defense of the project.