It's not entirely clear what Diane Harkey, a Republican state assemblywoman from Dana Point, was hoping to accomplish when she drafted a bill that would have killed all financing for the high-speed rail line from Anaheim to SF. First off, that would require legislatively overturning a voter-approved initiative, which are sacrosanct here, and then getting the signature of the governor, who loves the train line (there's another effort to dismantle the train line being considered by five Bay Area cities that want to put the issue back on the ballot). Anyway, the bill bit the dust, but Harkey revised the bill, reports the Contra Costa Times. "Now, the bill would instead require the California High-Speed Rail Authority to submit six-year spending plans and annual financing reports to the Legislature. The documents would need to include any proposed debt and costs associated with the $43 billion project." That sounded fair to the Assembly Committee on Transportation, which passed the new bill in a unanimous vote last week, and sent it on to the Appropriations Committee.
· Bill to Kill High-Speed Rail Project Is Revised [Contra Costa Times]
· Bad News Snowballing Today [Curbed LA]
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