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Mayor criticizes state actions on high-speed rail funding during Taft council remarks
Summary
The presiding officer used his council remarks to criticize state legislation he said extends cap-and-trade funding and increases guaranteed funding for California High-Speed Rail to roughly $1 billion annually, arguing that other programs lost funding as a result.
During the Dec. 2 Taft City Council meeting, the presiding officer used his allotted council statements time to criticize recent state legislation affecting funding for California High‑Speed Rail.
The presiding officer said the governor signed legislation (identified in the remarks as "Senate Bill 237") that extended cap-and-trade and increased the guaranteed annual share directed to high‑speed rail. "They were averaging somewhere around $300,000,000 a year... he turned that into a guaranteed $1,000,000,000 a year," the presiding officer said, arguing that the change reduces funding available for other cap-and-trade recipients such as water programs and underserved-community initiatives.
He characterized the decision as a policy choice that shifts resources away from other climate and community programs, and said the extension of funding will last beyond the current administration. The remarks were delivered as an opinionated policy critique during the council statements portion of the meeting and did not trigger a council motion or vote.
The transcript records this as the presiding officer's commentary to the chambers; no city action implementing or challenging the state legislation was taken at the meeting.
