I haven't had an update in awhile from one of the most diligent opponents to High-cost Rail, but his latest update had some encouraging news about the Central Valley
Status of the HSR Project in the San Joaquin Valley – Despite the bluster and bullying from Sacramento, in less than two years the State must turn back most of unspent Federal funds to the US Congress. Construction has not begun on the first 29 mile section southwards from Madera towards Fresno. With 50 other states’ (Federal) money, the High-Speed Rail Authority has purchased about half the land needed to build that section and destroy homes, businesses and farms. At a meeting in Chowchilla in April we learned of the sly and threatening tactics the Authority (and its friend the Public Utilities Commission) have used when trying to get farmers to sell; but by and large the farmers along that section have forced the eminent domain process to be put in place, and in the last quarter we’ve seen a dramatic slowdown in the pace of property purchases.
Thinks at the Federal level are a bit more fuzzy given all of the stakeholders
Status at the Federal level – The Denham Amendment (Rep. Jeff Denham – R, CA) was inserted into the Transportation Spending Bill in mid-year and passed the House of Representatives. It requires the State to return to the original terms of the Federal-State contract to use federal funds, which required a matching contribution of 50% for each tranche. In late December 2012, the Federal Railroad Administration and the State changed the terms of that contract, allowing only federal money to be spent before any matching took place. If the Transportation Spending Bill gets passed by the end of this September, it will force Governor Brown to dip into state reserves to match the roughly $1Billion the feds have contributed so far. And it would begin to ‘bleed’ the almost non-existent state funds for planning and engineering – which are ‘off-limits’ to any legal challenge. If Congress goes for a Continuing Resolution at the close of FY15 (September 30th) the Denham Amendment will be put back into next year’s spending bill.
And there was some modest good news on the legal front too as the anti-HSR legal team got some documents allowed into the record that should help the suit.
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