U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) denounced a recent decision by the Biden administration to award over $3 billion in taxpayer money to the controversial California High-Speed Rail project.
“We are concerned that the Department of Transportation (DOT) continues funding the California High-Speed Rail endeavor. This project is not entitled to special treatment at the expense of both taxpayers and deserving infrastructure projects across the country,” wrote Rep. Graves and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in a May 29 letter sent to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Rep. Graves, chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Sen. Cruz, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, have requested that DOT turn over documents and information regarding the Biden administration’s decision to keep funding the project, according to their letter.
While the California High-Speed Rail was intended to cost California taxpayers a total of $33 billion and be completed in 2020, the project remains uncompleted and current costs projections total about $128 billion thus far, the lawmakers wrote.
“The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) still has not completed a single segment of the system, the total estimated cost has ballooned to $128 billion and counting, and there is no expected completion date,” wrote Rep. Graves and his colleague. “CHSRA has recently focused its efforts on completing a 171-mile segment between Merced and Bakersfield. This segment alone will cost more than $35 billion to serve about two million riders annually.”
The lawmakers also pointed out that California is now seeking federal subsidies as the project far exceeds the state’s ability to finance it.
“In March 2023, the CHSRA Peer Review Group, whose job is to evaluate CHSRA’s funding plans, sounded the alarm,” they wrote. “It reported an astounding ‘unfunded gap of $92.6 billion to $103.1 billion between estimated costs and known State and Federal funding’ for the full San Francisco-to-San Diego system.”
Rep. Graves and his colleague asked DOT to schedule an in-person briefing with committee staff and to turn over documents and information related to the project no later than June 12.