GOP Demands California Investigates High-Speed Rail Payouts
A state watchdog found $543,000 in unallowable travel costs, and GOP lawmakers want Attorney General Rob Bonta to examine possible legal violations.
- On Tuesday, Assembly Minority Leader Alexandra Macedo and 18 other California Republicans urged Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate the High-Speed Rail Authority for allegedly wasteful consultant travel expenses totaling over $500,000.
- The request follows a High-Speed Rail Office of the Inspector General report released last week substantiating that the Authority paid $543,000 in unallowable travel expenses to four consulting firms between 2024 and 2026.
- Expenditures included first-class flights, gym visits, and cigar lounges; the OIG reported that Authority executives ordered these payments over staff objections, revealing a pattern of noncompliance with contracting laws.
- Assemblymember Lori Wilson, chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, supported the findings on Tuesday, urging the Authority to seek reimbursement for improper costs identified in the report.
- The High-Speed Rail project faces projected costs of $126.2 billion, and the OIG warned the initiative could exhaust funding by December 2027 unless the state secures additional borrowing to maintain construction.
31 Articles
31 Articles
GOP demands California investigates high-speed rail payouts - The Daily Bo Snerdley
(The Center Square) – In a letter released early Tuesday, Republican legislators called for California Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate the High-Speed Rail Authority over allegations of improper authorizations of travel expenditures for contractors. The letter from California Republicans to Bonta came a week after the High-Speed Rail Office of the Inspector General released a report substantiating allegations of more than $1 million b…
Appalachian News-Express
GOP demands California investigates high-speed rail payouts
(The Center Square) – In a letter released early Tuesday, Republican legislators called for California Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate the High-Speed Rail Authority over allegations of improper authorizations of travel expenditures for contractors.
California GOP lawmakers seek probe on wasteful high-speed rail consultant reimbursements
California Republican legislators are demanding an investigation into payments by state's high-speed rail project to consultants that a state watchdog last week called "wasteful and unallowable."
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