2/19/2019

CALIFORNIA/TRANSPORTATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The U.S. Department of Transportation plans to cancel $929 million in federal funding for California’s high-speed rail project, threatening the state’s plan to complete the first phase of a project that has intensified a rivalry between President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. In a Tuesday [2-19-19] letter from the Federal Railroad Administration addressed to Brian Kelly, CEO of California’s High-Speed Rail Authority, Administrator Ronald Batory wrote that the cancellation of funds will take effect on March 5. The FRA is also considering legal action to recover $2.5 billion in federal funds already used on a 119-mile stretch that would connect Merced and Bakersfield in the state’s Central Valley. Newsom, though, has repeatedly said the state will not return the money…The rail project has faced cost overruns and years of delays. The Trump administration argues California hasn’t provided required matching dollars and can’t complete work by a 2022 deadline.”

Sheyanne N Romero, “Derailed? Feds plan to cancel nearly $1B for California’s high-speed rail project,” USA Today, February 19, 2019 9:23 pm