{"id":1544955,"date":"2022-07-08T16:19:11","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T20:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1544955"},"modified":"2022-07-08T16:19:19","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T20:19:19","slug":"embattled-california-high-speed-rail-project-gets-inspector-general-but-is-it-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/embattled-california-high-speed-rail-project-gets-inspector-general-but-is-it-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"Embattled California High Speed Rail Project Gets Inspector General, But Is It Enough?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fembattled-california-high-speed-rail-project-gets-inspector-general-but-is-it-enough%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1544955&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"p1\">A recent deal on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/california\">California<\/a>\u2019s state budget last week freed the last $4.2 billion in bond funding for the state\u2019s $105 billion high speed rail project, and established a new inspector general (IG) role in hopes of assisting the massive project that has hit snags along the way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2022\/06\/30\/california-budget-ends-high-speed-rail-standoff-sends-billions-to-other-projects\/\">The Mercury News<\/a>, the budget agreement permits the portion of the project in the Central Valley \u2014 a span of 171 miles \u2014 to press forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThere is nothing but problems on the project,\u201d Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) told <a href=\"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/transportation\/2022\/07\/high-speed-rail-california\/\">CalMatters<\/a>. \u201cThe inspector general provides oversight and some sense of what is going on with management. That has been missing for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Rendon added that they don\u2019t know if it will work, saying, \u201cWe need to be vigilant. The IG will provide what we need to carry that out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">Up to this point, CalMatters reported, various outside groups have provided advice and recommendations to the Legislature and the governor about the major high speed rail initiative, but many of the suggestions were not brought about.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">The project did not begin without pushback, and has had drawbacks over the past ten years. In 2012, the Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office (LAO) said there shouldn\u2019t be devoted funds to begin building the project, stating at the time that the California High-Speed Rail Authority wasn\u2019t ready. Then-governor Jerry Brown pushed the Legislature for the money and was successful. However, now, lots of people believe the LAO was correct in its assessment. CalMatters reported that the Peer Review Group has said for a long time that California needs a stable funding strategy, but the project is continuing without such a plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">The outside agencies didn\u2019t have the ability or drive to sufficiently address the daily tasks of the project, the vast number of consultants, and its overseas contractors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">\u201cThe IG will bring a level of oversight that we have not had before,\u201d Helen Kerstein, the only bullet train expert at the LAO, said. \u201cThis is very powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">CalMatters noted the law establishing the IG position explains the power the new position will have, including complete access to the rail line\u2019s records, the ability to look over contracts and amend orders, as well as distribute subpoenas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">The new position will have a salary of $192,382 and will likely need an employee base of at least 50 people, according to Fred Weiderhold, who was Amtrak\u2019s IG for two decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">Laura Friedman, chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, is reportedly known as the main person known for advancing the IG concept. \u201cIt is not some person sitting in a basement,\u201d Friedman said, adding, \u201cIt is going to be staffed. It is going to be real.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said the responsibilities will involve looking into wasteful practices, abusive actions, financial wrongdoings, and cooperation with law enforcement and prosecutorial personnel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">\u201cThey need to deliver something soon that the public understands is a train,\u201d Friedman noted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/hotair.com\/john-s-2\/2022\/07\/07\/californias-bullet-train-project-is-getting-an-inspector-general-n481354\">Hot Air<\/a> reported that the budget provides $4.2 billion for the construction task, which will be utilized to finish the stretch of rail between Bakersfield and Merced. California Democrats in the Legislature, however, aren\u2019t on board and don\u2019t see the purpose of giving lots of money to an area of the project that few people may use.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">\u201cYou can\u2019t have enough oversight on a project like this,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cThis is not a minor change. It will be a very big change for the project.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent deal on California\u2019s state budget last week freed the last $4.2 billion in bond funding for the state\u2019s $105 billion high speed rail project, and established a new inspector general (IG) role in hopes of assisting the massive project that has hit snags along the way. According to The Mercury News, the budget &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":1547204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1544955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1544955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1544955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1547204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1544955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1544955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1544955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}