GOP demands California investigates high-speed rail payouts

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(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 being expensed for contractors’ travel costs. These included ride shares to the gym, escape rooms and cigar lounges; expenditures for a contractor’s private jet during a flight from Washington, D.C. to California and travel expenses for vague, unspecified meetings, according to the report.

“I can’t say I’m shocked or surprised that there was wasteful spending within this high-speed fail,” said Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach and vice chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.

“It’s not their money," Strickland told The Center Square on Tuesday. "It’s the people’s money. Now with this mismanagement, it’s shown that they are using taxpayer dollars to live large and when most people are barely living paycheck to paycheck.”

In the letter, which Strickland and 18 other Republican lawmakers signed, legislators demanded an investigation not only into the unallowable travel expenses, but also if executives with the High-Speed Rail Authority violated statutes by ordering those payments.

According to previous reporting by The Center Square, four contractors for the High-Speed Rail Authority expensed roughly $1.15 million for travel costs. Approximately $680,500 was paid for travel that did not have prior approval, while an additional $543,400 in travel expenses were paid out for out-of-state and international travel, which were not allowed under the terms of the contract.

“Our constituents deserve transparency and accountability to ensure that their hard-earned money isn’t misspent to support the luxury lifestyles of highly paid consultants,” Assembly Minority Leader Alexandra Macedo, R-Tulare, wrote in the letter. “Nobody is above the law. We expect the Attorney General’s office to fully investigate this matter and take immediate action against any fraud or corruption at the High-Speed Rail Authority.”

Macedo said during an interview with The Center Square on Tuesday that wasteful spending has become part of the culture of the High-Speed Rail Authority. She noted there is often little or no accountability after examples of mismanagement are brought to light.

“This is not a responsible use of taxpayer dollars, and there is potentially criminality involved when you see a pattern of noncompliance and waste of public funds,” Macedo told The Center Square. “It’s very frustrating that California taxpayers are shelling out a billion dollars a year for this failed project.”

Democratic politicians have also called for accountability in recent days. Assemblymember Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City and chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, told The Center Square on Tuesday she supports the findings of the inspector general's report. 

"I support the Office of the Inspector General of the High-Speed Rail and the corrective actions the agency deems appropriate, which are delineated in the investigation report and include reviewing the travel expense claims for the four consulting firms and seeking reimbursement for unallowable expenses paid," Wilson said.

The California High-Speed Rail is projected to cost $126.2 billion, of which $15.7 billion has been spent so far. California voters originally approved a $9.95 billion bond in 2008 to pay for the entire San Francisco-to-Los Angeles project, and it was supposed to be done in 2020. So far, no track has been laid, according to previous reporting by The Center Square.