CA Governor's Senior Advisor Statement After High-Speed Rail Roundtable with Vice President Joe Biden

06/03/2009 -- After attending a White House state roundtable hosted by Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment (Recovery Act) funding application for high-speed rail, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Senior Advisor David Crane issued the statement below. David Crane also serves as a board member of the California High-Speed Rail Commission.

“California leads the nation as the first state to commence and fund high-speed rail development and under the leadership of Governor Schwarzenegger, we are very well positioned to aggressively compete for billions in Recovery Act funding designated for high speed rail investment. We are working around the clock to bring as much of this Recovery Act funding to California as possible, because federal investment in our high-speed rail system will create jobs, lay the foundation for future economic growth, help us meet our environment goals and improve quality of life here in California.”

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The federal government is expected to issue application guidelines for this funding on June 17, 2009. With California voter support of Proposition 1A last November providing nearly $10 billion in state bond funding for high-speed rail and with Governor Schwarzenegger’s signing of AB 3034 clearing the way for public private partnership authority in this arena, California is very well positioned to compete for the High-Speed Rail Grant Program Recovery Act funding. In the Schwarzenegger Administration’s continued efforts to push for increased Recovery Act funding in this area, California officials presented a preliminary view of California’s vision to Federal Railway Administration personnel at a federal workshop in Sacramento on May 28, 2009.

Source: California Governor