Arnold Maintains His Hypocrisy on High-Speed Rail With New Budget Proposals

Arnold's new budget proposal for high-speed rail was disappointing, to say the least. This San Jose Mercury News article discusses the proposal. The new budget proposes funding of $5.2 million, up from $1.2 million in January. But $3.5 million of the money will come from the Orange County Transportation Authority, and only if the state contributes a comparable amount of money for engineering and environmental work between Los Angeles and Anaheim. The other half million is unspent money the High-Speed Rail Authority wants to roll over into the new fiscal year. It's disappointing to see Schwarzenegger fail to take serious action on the pressing needs of transport for Californians. Granted, more needs to be done to create a detailed financial proposal for the project, but Schwarzenegger should have allocated more money to the Authority to start. He should have at least given them the essential funds to start purchasing right-of-ways before property values increase further. That would have been the smart fiscal decision. It's now up to the State Legislature to decide whether the Rail Authority can get the funds it deserves. If you live in California, please lobby your State Legislators, telling them you want the project. Without your support on this vital issue, the project will likely stagnate.