By Kerry Jackson, Pacific Research Institute
If there were a list of faltering, ineffective and counterproductive programs and projects that California policymakers are bitterly clinging to, the “bullet train” would be at the top. Voters asked for an ambitious high-speed rail that never leaves the state, but California cannot get the job done alone. The rest of the country has been mustered to help pay for what has become an infamous flop.
Not all are happy with California socializing its blunder. Consequently, federal funds are in jeopardy. The U.S. Transportation Department and the Federal Railroad Administration have reallocated an unspent $4 billion grant for the project that had been doled out by the previous administration. In response, the High-Speed Rail Authority filed a motion to stop what Gov. Gavin Newsom called “a heartless attack on the Central Valley.” But the feds cited, correctly, a history of “mismanagement and incompetence” that have produced “a decade of failures” as reason for pulling the funds.
The state’s effort to “claw back” the money is working its way through the U.S. court system, and it might be as off track as the train itself. Attorney Kathryn Barragan recently argued on behalf of the administration that a federal district court doesn’t have the authority to rule on the case. It should instead be heard in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, she said. The judge made no prediction as to when he would rule on the government’s request to dismiss the suit.
Californians voted in 2008 to build the high-speed rail. Not Texans. Not South Dakotans. Not Floridians. Californians asked for it, and if they still want it, after all that’s plagued it – it’s years behind schedule and tens of billions over budget – they should have to pay for it themselves.
It’s not just high-speed rail, though. Another initiative of dubious value that the Golden State is demanding the rest of the country support is the $7 billion Solar for All program, though it is not fully alone. A coalition of states – about two dozen – has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for “unilaterally and illegally” ending a plan that supposedly would have brought “low-cost" solar energy to more than “900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta wants us all to believe the “administration is needlessly hampering an industry that can produce safe, reliable, and inexpensive energy.”
The Trump Administration believes that it’s not obligated to allocate the funds. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called Solar for All a “$7 billion pot” of taxpayers’ dollars that had been skimmed by “up to FOUR pass-through entities, each taking their own cut off the top.”
“The bottom line is this: EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive,” Zeldin added.
California has often indicated that rather than one state among 50 equals, it’s a nation unto itself. U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, who has announced he is running for governor, said “it’s the greatest country in the world.” If so, then it needs to fund its own programs and not rely on “foreign aid” from the 49 states that still consider themselves part of the U.S.
This isn’t to say Californians shouldn’t continue to receive benefits from the programs they pay into, such as Social Security and Medicare, or that funds disbursed to all states for federal activities such as interstate transportation should be withheld from the state.
And as long as there is a national safety net, California should draw its fair share from the collective. But it shouldn’t assume that it can freely bill other states for its in-state decisions.
Kerry Jackson is the William Clement Fellow in California Reform at the Pacific Research Institute, a California-based think tank advocating free-market policy solutions.