Kevin Kiley: “the CEO of the California High- Speed Rail Authority was recently arrested and placed on leave, so the Rail Authority is…”

“the CEO of the California High- Speed Rail Authority was recently arrested and placed on leave, so the Rail Authority is now on its sixth CEO. That means there have been six more CEOs than there have been passengers because, of course, there haven't been any passengers, despite spending $17 million over 17 years. There has been no track laid. Nevertheless, the Governor recently, with quite a bit of hoopla, held an event in Kern County to celebrate the fact that a single railhead has now been completed. The Governor that crowed they are now entering the track-laying phase, whatever that might mean. Mr. Speaker, it is time for the Governor to acknowledge what the U.S. Department of Transportation did in a recent compliance review. This project has no viable path forward. Thankfully, in the House of Representatives, following a bill I introduced to this effect, there was a bipartisan vote to cut off all further Federal funding for high-speed rail. There is no viable path forward for the project. I do believe when we have a new Governor in the State, the project will finally be wound down. Taxpayers also deserve answers on where all of this money has gone. Curiously, as we are seeing new scrutiny to answer that question as to where the money is going, the Governor is pushing a bill in the legislature to keep records of the project secret and to create new exceptions to our public records laws that specifically apply to high- speed rail.”