Democrats’ High Speed Rail Slush Fund Growing Again to $130+ Billion

When President Donald Trump announced in February he would be launching an investigation into the high cost of California High Speed Rail fulfilling a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) promise made late in 2024, many California taxpayers celebrated.

Originally estimated to cost $33 billion in 2008 with a San Francisco to Los Angeles line to open by 2028, the California high speed rail system ballooned to over $1oo billion. And Gov. Newsom also just approved another $20 billion for High-Speed Rail.

Lawmakers pushed a dubious 2012 revised business plan, in which the cost of the project was magically reduced to $68 billion from $98.6 billion, and an estimated partial completion somewhere in the late 2030’s.

Last year, the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHRSA) actually confirmed that the system still needed $100 billion to link up San Francisco and Los Angeles, so the $130 Billion current estimate can’t be accurate.

Even while Jerry Brown was still governor, the true cost of High Speed Rail was whispered to be closer to $350 billion… if it ever is actually fully built out.

In February, President Trump addressed the absurdity of the high cost of the plan and said it was mind-boggling, echoing decades of criticisms within California that the project has been nothing more than a boondoggle, the Globe reported.

“The train that’s being built between Los Angeles and San Francisco is the worst managed project I think I’ve ever seen,” Trump said. “It’s the worst managed project I think I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some of the worst. I read that every person who would ride the train could instead take a limousine back and forth, and you’d have hundreds of billions of dollars left over. It is the worst overrun that there has ever been in the history of our country.”

When questioned on Trump’s comments, the high speed rail authority responded on X, pointing out their progress – defending the indefensible.

“Ignore the noise. We’re busy building,” read the post. “As we enter the track-laying phase, 171 miles are under active construction & we’ve already:  COMPLETED 50 major structures  COMPLETED 60 miles of guideway  COMPLETED full enviro clearance from SF to LA  CREATED 14,600 jobs.”

“We can’t go back. We just have to accept the responsibility of where we are, and that’s exactly what we are doing, said Arthur Sohikian, the High Speed Rail’s executive director.

Governor Gavin Newsom also deflected, pointing to the “thousands of jobs” the project has provided in the Central Valley. It’s curious how there are thousands of jobs, but there is no track, and we still don’t have a train, 17 years after the 2008 bond was passed.

In July, President Donald Trump cuts off federal funds for California’s disastrous, fraudulent, corrupt High Speed Rail, we posted on X, following his Truth Social announcement:

We’ve always said that California’s High Speed Rail is nothing more than a jobs program – especially with no tracks and no train cars, 16 years after Prop. 1A, the bond creating it was passed.

This Globe reporter has covered California’s High Speed train-to-nowhere since 2008, when Proposition 1A was originally passed by voters. Only 4 years into the boondoggle, in 2012 I reported:

As California politicians show more desperation to build any part of the California High-Speed Rail system in order to get their hands on $3.5 billion in federal stimulus money, the plan is looking more like a whack-a-mole game. But every hole that is plugged, every detail that is softened or tweaked, and every cost estimate that is changed causes a bigger problem. The cover-up is worse than the original crime.

It is important to remember that high-speed rail is not really about achieving sexy world-class transportation for the purpose of serious people moving. It’s just a pipeline project for grabbing big money. Because of the illegitimacy of the project’s intent, the mole could be permanently whacked, and leave California taxpayers holding the bill.

Once the “high speed” route was changed from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Bakersfield to Madera, we renamed the train system “The Conjugal Express” after the two prisons on either end of the route.

By 2014, the funding scheme was to shift $250 million in cap-and-trade funds to high-speed rail via the state budget. California’s cap-and-trade program places a “cap” on aggregate greenhouse gas emissions from businesses and utilities deemed “polluters” by the California Air Resources Board, which the CARB says are responsible for most of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. The CARB devised the cap-and-trade system whereby it holds a quarterly auction program requiring selected California employers to bid significant amounts of money for the privilege of continuing to operate in the state and “pollute” — or be faced with closing their doors.

“This budget will outrageously rip off millions of dollars in cap-and-trade funds to build high-speed rail, throwing good money after bad,” said state Sen. Andy Vidak (R-Hanford), in 2014 in response to the cap-and-trade funding scheme.

Vidak even did a “whistle-stop-the-train” press campaign.

The U.S. Department of Transportation gave California until mid-July to respond before the administration moves to terminate the grants. So the California Legislature just flipped the bird at the Trump administration.

Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach), has plenty to say about the fiscal irrationality.

“I came to Sacramento to Make California Golden Again, and that means fighting every day for safer communities, affordable living, and a government that works for the people—not against them.

“I said it in June and I’ll say it again: legislative Democrats live in ‘Bizarro World.’ Their idea of tackling affordability is extending the Cap-and-Trade program, a hidden tax that drives up costs on everything from gas to groceries. That’s not climate leadership. I call it economic sabotage.

“Families shouldn’t have to choose between affordability and ineffective climate promises, and I believe Californians deserve better.”

Sen. Strickland highlighted these notable pieces of legislation:

• SB 840: Allocates $1 billion to the failing high-speed rail project and $3 million to create a new, unaccountable “Climate Bureau Agency” within the Office of Legislative Counsel.
• AB 1207: Extends the Cap-and-Trade program to 2045, risking higher fuel and energy costs for working families.
• SB 840: Allocates $1 billion slush fund for legislative Democrats’ pet projects and a $1 billion for the failed high-speed rail project.

“We cannot sacrifice economic stability and affordability for false climate promises that will only raise costs for those who can least afford it.

“These bills may sound noble, but they will deliver higher gas prices, which are predicted to be at $8 per gallon next year, soaring energy bills, and force refineries to shutter or flee California due to crushing compliance costs. This agenda will only deepen our state’s affordability crisis, costing jobs and threatening the livelihoods of hardworking families.”

Senator Strickland continued:

“According to a PPIC survey on ‘Californians and the Energy Transition,‘ 59% of respondents indicated that they are unwilling to pay more for electricity generated from renewable energy sources. Additionally, a report from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office released in May warned that drivers could face higher gas prices due to the extension of the Cap & Trade program, potentially increasing prices by up to 74 cents per gallon. A typical California household consumes about 600 gallons of gasoline annually and may end up having to pay an extra $444 per year. When considering diesel and other fuels, the total additional cost could be around $700.”

In January 2025, California Congressman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) introduced a bill to eliminate federal funding for the failed California High-Speed Rail project citing “political incompetence,” and there being “no plausible scenario where the cost to federal or state taxpayers can be justified.”

Re-read my 2012 article, which lays out all of the Prop 1A mandates… and you’ll see that Secretary Duffy is right on.

California Democrats are out of control, and proved once again they don’t care about voters, taxpayers or their own constituents.

Stop voting for them.