Legislature approves high-speed rail spending State Senate narrowly approves bond money for line's initial phase, meeting federal deadline for grant funds

This image provided by the California High Speed Rail Authority shows an artist's rendering of a high-speed train station. This image provided by the California High Speed Rail Authority shows an artist's rendering of a high-speed train station. Photo: Anonymous, ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo: Anonymous, ASSOCIATED PRESS Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Legislature approves high-speed rail spending 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

Sacramento --

A divided state Senate approved billions of dollars in funding to start construction on California's ambitious high-speed rail line Friday, handing the controversial project $7.9 billion in state and federal money for the first 130 miles of track and a series of local transit upgrades.

The funding measure, which was easily approved in the Assembly Thursday, will now head to Gov. Jerry Brown, who pushed lawmakers to approve it. In all, the Legislature this week authorized the issuance of $4.6 billion in state bond funds - about half of the $9.9 billion approved by voters in 2008 - and opened the door for California to obtain $3.3 billion in federal grants, for a total of $7.9 billion.

It was a key vote: Federal transportation officials had warned that if the money were not made available this summer, they would yank the $3.3 billion in stimulus funds and give it to other states.

And it was a tough win for Democratic leaders, who weren't sure by midday if they had the votes to pass the measure, which got the bare minimum of 21 votes, all of them Democrats. But some in the party refused to support the plan.

One of those lawmakers, Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, spoke for 15 minutes about the project's strengths and weaknesses before ultimately saying he could not support the details being weighed Friday.

"I think high-speed rail makes sense in California ... but we're not being asked to vote on a vision today, we're being asked to vote on a particular plan," he said, critiquing the cost and placement of the initial stretch of track in the Central Valley and noting that the $3.3 billion in federal funds is about 5 percent of the project's total cost.

"We will be expected to put up 20 times that amount over the course of how many years. ... Regrettably, the only conclusion I can come to today is that this is the wrong plan in the wrong place in the wrong time," Simitian added.

Look to the future

During the two-hour debate, supporters countered that they had a responsibility to look beyond today's fiscal challenges and vote yes for what they said would be a short-term boost to jobs and local transit systems, and a long-term investment in the state. Some referenced bold public works projects of the past; Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Bakersfield, compared it to President Abraham Lincoln's pursuit of the Transcontinental Railroad.

"In the era of term limits, how many chances do we have to vote on something this important and long lasting? How many chances do we have to vote on something that will inject a colossal stimulus into today's economy while looking into the future far beyond our days in this house?" said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. "Do we have the ability to see beyond the challenges, the political point-scoring and controversies of today? Are we willing to take some short-term risk, knowing that the benefit to this great state will be, for centuries, enormous?"

The cost of the high-speed rail line - now estimated at $68 billion - has ballooned since voters approved the bonds four years ago, and public support for the bullet train has fallen as projected costs rose. The high-speed system would connect San Francisco to Los Angeles with trains expected to run as fast as 220 mph.

1st stretch of railway

Most of the money approved this week - about $5.9 billion - is for construction of the first 130-mile stretch of railway in the Central Valley from Bakersfield to Madera. An additional $250 million is for environmental and design work.

But a large chunk, $1.9 billion, is earmarked for transit system improvements in Northern and Southern California, including $140 million for new BART cars, $600 million for Caltrain electrification and $61 million for Muni's Central Subway. An additional $500 million is for improvements to Los Angeles area transit systems.

On Friday, critics questioned whether those projects are truly connected to the statewide rail system.

Build it where?

But it was the location, demanded by the federal government, of the first phase of construction that proved the most controversial. Critics have derided it as a "train to nowhere," and many farmers in the Central Valley are angry about plans to seize some farmland and homes to make way for the bullet train.

"We are getting an upgraded Amtrak line in the Central Valley for $6 billion," said Simitian. "And oh, by the way, it's in a low ridership area ... a million potential riders as opposed to 28 million in the north and southern ends of the state."

Republicans also attacked the project's escalating costs - it was estimated at $40 billion when voters authorized the project in 2008. It's still not clear how the state will pay for later phases of construction.

Several speakers cited a Field Poll released this week that showed support potentially slipping for the tax plan Brown has placed on the November ballot if lawmakers authorize the rail funding. Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks (Ventura County), asked why Democrats would make a bullet train more important than saving a health care program for poor kids, or putting more funding toward education.

"I do believe Californians will remember in November - they will remember how out of touch you are in your spending priorities when you ask them to dig deeper," he said. "They will see you spent money we simply don't have."