Orange County Republicans take aim at California’s bullet train

By BROOKE STAGGS | bstaggs@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: March 1, 2021 at 5:39 p.m. | UPDATED: March 1, 2021 at 5:39 p.m.

Newly elected Orange County Republican leaders are pushing back against funding for California’s controversial high-speed train, even as the state’s rail authority touts progress in creating jobs and building the first stretch of the line.

A new bill from freshman Assemblywoman Laurie Davies, R-Laguna Niguel, calls for shifting $54 million currently set aside for the train and using it to help fund local transit and infrastructure projects that have been financially harmed or delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This money has been sitting here since 2013 and hasn’t been used for the high-speed rail,” said Davies, who’s on the Assembly’s transportation committee.

“We’ve got shovel-ready projects,” she added. “This will benefit everyone in California.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Seal Beach, on Monday introduced legislation that would block any federal funding from being used to support California’s high-speed rail project, which she called a “failure.” A slate of local Republicans have signed on to support Steel’s bill, including Reps. Young Kim of La Habra, Mike Garcia of Santa Clarita and Ken Calvert of Corona.

“Costs have continued to rise, while people and businesses have lost their properties,” Steel said. “The sections of the high-speed rail that do exist are inoperable and this is an unacceptable and an embarrassing waste of taxpayer dollars.”

Plans to build a 200-mph bullet train that would carry passengers from Anaheim to San Francisco in under three hours have been discussed for decades as a way to reduce highway congestion, smog, commute times and dependence on foreign oil.