If you are wondering why the budget for California’s high-speed rail keeps increasing, it’s because the state needs to pay for very important things, such as escape room visits and nightclub outings for project consultants.
The inspector general for the high-speed rail project has found that the California High-Speed Rail Authority has violated state contract requirements to the tune of around $600,000 in disallowed spending on four consultant firms. That includes, according to Ashley Zavala, spending on “premium rideshare trips to a gym, night clubs, an escape room, a cigar lounge in Washington, D.C., and a sushi restaurant in Denver.” The Authority also spent $118,000 in international travel costs, despite it being explicitly barred by the contract the Authority has with that consultant group.
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According to the inspector general, “The broader pattern in both instances is that the Authority has not developed sufficient controls, and reinforced a culture, that ensures compliance with state laws and regulations.” He also warned last month that the project will be out of money — again — as soon as December 2027.
This is a project that has seen its budget explode from its original $33 billion price tag (back when we were told the entire project would be completed by 2020) to the current state, where the project has spent $18 billion and must spend another $108 billion (at the optimistic end) to finish the entire promised rail line.
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So, what are California Democrats going to do with this project that blows through billions by the month and has created a “culture” of violating state laws with regard to wasteful spending? Why, they are going to continue to dump more money into it, of course. The California Democratic Party has clung to the fantasy of the high-speed rail for years, despite every deadline delay, budget hike, and attempt to shorten or alter the original promised plan. The California High-Speed Rail Authority has all but spit in the face of legislators looking for updates on the project, and yet those Democratic legislators still refuse to throw in the towel and put those billions toward anything that will actually benefit Californians in this century.
California’s high-speed rail has accomplished nothing but burning through billions of dollars while lining the pockets of consultants, bureaucrats, and unions. California Democrats refuse to admit they made a massive mistake with the billions they have wasted so far, so they will continue to waste billions more in hopes that the project can one day be salvaged, funding who knows how many nightclub visits for consultants along the way.