SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California state legislator has introduced a bill seeking to halt funding for California’s high speed rail project from the state’s greenhouse gas program and direct $1 billion annually to wildfire prevention and water projects.
Assembly Bill 267 was introduced by Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare, Calif.) on Jan. 17. It calls for the legislature to suspend appropriations from the California Air Resources Board for high speed rail in the 2026-27 and 2027-28 fiscal years. The money would be redirected to the state’s General Fund. From there, it would be available for the wildfire and infrastructure projects, if so appropriated.
Current law requires 25% of the money CARB generates for its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund through cap-and-trade programs goes to the high-speed program.
Macedo told KMPH-TV, “This bill is doing something that I think the Central Valley’s been asking for a really long time, which is to abandon the high-speed rail project or at least the funding going towards it.”
Another California legislator, U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Roseville), has previously introduced a bill in Congress that seeks to prevent further federal funding for the California project [see “Legislator seeks to block federal funding …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 11, 2024].
Share this article
