CARRD’s Legislative Update

CARRD closely follows proposed state legislation related to High-Speed Rail. We send regular updates to city council members, state legislative offices, agencies, local officials and others interested in following high-speed rail’s progress. This is one of the services provided by CARRD to help inform the public of legislative activities related to the HSR project. Click on the titles below to see the full report and HSR Bill List.

California State Budget – October 2010

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed important oversights for the High Speed Rail project that were contained in the state budget bill. State legislators attached certain “strings” to the Authority’s funds for the coming year with the threat of withholding money if they didn’t meet these requirements.  In an unusual twist, the Governor used his line item veto powers to cut the “strings” but not any part of the $9 billion in HSR bond money… (read full report here)

Updated Description
May 14, 2010 The Audit Tipping Point
The Senate Transportation committee’s CHSRA audit hearing was a defining moment in post-Prop 1A history: it was the first committee hearing I’ve observed where a line in the sand was drawn which conveyed that legislative support of the state’s high-speed rail project is not unconditional. (Committee hearing transcript.)
April 14, 2010 CARRD HSR Legislative Update
February 19, 2010 Reduce, reuse, recycle – Transitioning from 2009 to 2010Creating new legislation is a two-year process. This update takes inventory of which bills successfully chaptered into law, which ones are still actively moving through committee, and which ones we can safely drop from our lengthy Watch List. We also observe the creative ways legislators reuse bills or recycle failed ones.
January 29, 2010 Bills which restructure the CHSRA are moving through committeeDescribes and compares SB 409 (Ducheny), AB 1375 (Galgiani) and AB 289 (Galgiani) which each take a different approach to addressing the future organizational structure of the Authority, its staffing and a proposed new Department of Rail
January 12, 2010 HSR Bill List
November 18, 2009 CARRD HSR Legislative Update
November 1, 2009 CARRD HSR Legislative Update
July 28, 2009 CARRD HSR Legislative Update
July 17, 2009 CARRD HSR Legislative Update

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“The research conducted by Ms. Wespi represents the most thorough and accurate summary of pending legislature currently available from any source.” – Palo Alto City Manager memo to City Council, May 11, 2009.