High-Speed Rail: A Billion Dollar Boondoggle
Dear Friend,
Based on what I hear and read from you, I know that high-speed rail (HSR) is an issue of great concern in our communities, so I wanted to provide you an update. Tomorrow, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will hold an oversight hearing on the status of the California project, and I will be participating to share my opposition to moving forward on this project. I also wanted to share a blog post I wrote on my concerns with the project and what I'm doing to protect your taxpayer dollars from being wasted.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) is continuing to defend a high-speed rail (HSR) project the government can't afford, the private sector won't invest in and Californians don't want. The Authority's most recent business plan is a blueprint for a high-speed rail project vastly different from what California voters approved in 2008. The cost has more than doubled to nearly $100 billion, the timeline has been pushed back over a decade and the new plan doesn't even comply with provisions in the ballot measure that gave high-speed rail in California its legs. On top of all this, the CHSRA has spent over $12 million on lobbying efforts to 'sell' this billion dollar boondoggle to an increasingly skeptical California public. A recent Field Poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Californians want to vote again on HSR, and if given the chance, a majority would vote no.
The good news is that these red flags are not going unnoticed in Congress. On Thursday, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will hold an oversight hearing on the status of the project, and I will be participating. The Obama Administration has already allocated $3.8 billion in taxpayer dollars to the project, and I am fighting to ensure that not another dime of taxpayer money is spent until we know whether or not this project is even viable. I have had long-standing concerns about the project, and it is time we increased the level of scrutiny.
For me, the most effective test to determine the viability of an idea that is supposed to be profitable is the private sector's willingness to invest in it. To date, not a single dollar of private money has been committed and even the CHSRA admits it won't be forthcoming. However, the Authority does assume about $11 billion in private investment once they start building. This "if we build it, they will come" scenario is nice in theory, but California taxpayers demand accountability and at this point, California's HSR is not a responsible use of nearly $100 billion.
Currently, I have legislation (H.R. 3143) pending that would freeze all unspent federal funds for the project through September of next year. That means that your taxpayer dollars would not be expended on this project until we get the answers we deserve. In the face of a $15 trillion national debt and a continued state budget crisis, we simply cannot afford to move forward with a massive and likely unfeasible public works project that will cost $98 billion just to build and take money away from education, parks and public safety for years to come.
Thursday's hearing will be a step toward ensuring that the taxpayers get the answers they deserve about this project, and I will continue to fight to make sure that it does not move forward in its current form. If you're interested in watching the hearing, please click here and follow the links to watch the live webcast.
As always, I welcome your feedback on this issue and encourage you to email me your thoughts and concerns. To do so, click here.
Sincerely,
Congressman Kevin McCarthy