Millions wasted, because of Democrats.
Via Reason:
Good news for every American who doesn’t live in California: If that state insists on pushing forward with its overbudget, behind-schedule boondoggle of a bullet train, it won’t be with your money.
The Federal Railroad Administration yesterday formally terminated a $929 million grant to help pay for the construction of a high-speed rail line that was originally supposed to link Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Los Angeles Times reports:
The California High-Speed Rail Authority “is chronically behind in project construction activities and has not been able to correct or mitigate its deficiencies,” said Ronald Batory, chief of the federal agency.
The railroad administration’s letter notes that the agency rejected every quarterly budget that the state authority submitted since late 2016, repeatedly admonishing the state for “deficiencies and errors” in its documents. The letter alleges the state made ineligible expenditures from the grants, including giving a bonus to consultants for meeting the terms of the grant and paying for expenses “related to a consultant’s name change.”
The feds warned back in February this was likely coming. While there is no love lost between President Donald Trump and California’s political leadership, this isn’t mere politics—it’s a long-overdue response to a construction plan that has grown wildly, absurdly, almost comically out of control.