California Senate Subcommittee Approves $40 Million More for High-Speed Rail

The legislative process seems to be having a positive effect on the implementation of high-speed rail in California. After Governor Schwarzenegger offered a paltry $5 million in his budget revisions last week, a state Senate subcommittee appears to have bumped that number up to about $45 million. Hopefully that funding will remain part of the budget and not be removed by legislative wrangling. However, the funding still well short of the $103 million the High-Speed Rail Authority is requesting, but the money will be able to help the Authority start environmental and engineering work on the project. High-speed rail is imperative to the future economic viability of the state, and it's essential that it get built. Please, lobby the State Legislature for more funding. They've made a good start, but they need to do more.