California Goes For Broke

Or rather, broker.  California Senate approves funding for high-speed rail

The state Senate voted by a bare majority today to fund initial construction of California's $68 billion high-speed rail project.

The approval was uncertain as recently as hours before the vote. With all 15 Republican senators opposed to the measure and several Democratic lawmakers wavering, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg scrambled to muster at least 21 of 25 Democratic votes.

Twenty-one Democratic senators voted 'Yes.'

The approval was a major legislative victory for Gov. Jerry Brown. Steinberg said the Democratic governor "talked to a couple members" ahead of the vote, while Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, reminded colleagues that the project not only had Brown's attention, but also that of President Barack Obama and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

The bill approved by the Senate authorizes $5.8 billion to start construction in the Central Valley, including $2.6 billion in rail bond funds and $3.2 billion from the federal government. Lawmakers tied that funding to nearly $2 billion to improve regional rail systems and connect them to high-speed rail. That regional money was considered necessary to lobby hesitant senators about the project's potential significance to their districts.

Why are politicians building a train system that next to nobody will ride (I'm from California, remember), and that's going to drive the state even deeper into debt?  Concentrated benefits and distributed costs.



But they'll spend a lot of money to build it (putting a lot of people to work doing so), and have a nice shiny, but empty train to run up and down the Central Valley.