Could California's Bullet Train Head Back to the Voters?
Another ballot initiative is filed in Sacramento
Gov. Jerry Brown shows no sign of coming to his senses on building a high-speed train running through California's heartland, now hoping to use cap-and-trade revenue to pay for a project that cannot find any money elsewhere beyond a relatively small federal (though still in billions) grant.
So a California assemblyman is having another go at trying to put the bullet train back on the ballot (an initiative in 2008 originally authorized it) to see if the voters will finally shut it down. The Sacramento Bee reports:
For the second time in less than two years, a California lawmaker has filed proposed ballot language to put the brakes on California's high-speed rail project.
Assemblyman Jeff Gorell submitted paperwork Friday to qualify the Stop the $100 Billion High Speed Rail and Reinvest in Education Act. The proposed November ballot measure is largely identical to the Stop the $100 Billion Bullet Train to Nowhere Act submitted by then-state Sen. Doug La Malfa and former Rep. George Radanovich in March 2012, which failed to qualify.
Gorell, though, is running for Congress this fall, the Bee notes, so he probably won't be able to lead the charge for this one. If somebody else takes the helm for this effort, they're going to have to get more than 500,000 signatures to get it back on the ballots.