Rep. Denham seeks to stop federal funds for California's high-speed rail line

U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) last week wrote to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) and Committee Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) to request that end-of-year appropriation measures include provisions to prohibit federal spending on California's high-speed rail program.

In his letter, Denham asked the committee to include in an end-of-year funding vehicle his amendment to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2015 (H.R. 4745). Specifically, the amendment would prohibit use of federal funds within the bill for high-speed rail in California or for the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

"The California High-Speed Rail Authority is trying to spend money it doesn’t have on the false assumption that more federal funds are coming," said Denham in a press release. "No taxpayer should have to spend any further money on skyrocketing expenses they never supported."

Denham also noted that the cost to build the high-speed line between San Francisco and Los Angeles has ballooned from $33 billion to its current figure of $68 billion. Additionally, he called out the authority for continually failing "to keep the project off ag land or to provide a viable business plan detailing where the money for the project will come from, instead assuming that federal tax payers will foot the bill."