CA HSR Cap & Trade Done Deal

[leemell]

In this article in the LA Times they describe the Cap & Trade deal Jerry Brown was working on with the Legislature. I heard a report on news radio about an hour ago that this budget is a done deal. The vote must come before Monday, the constitutional deadline to have a completed budget. This article on the CAHSR Blog describes the impact.

 

[Bob Dylan]

This sounds like good news!

Isn't Gov Brown and the Lege up for reelection this year?,Most pundits had prophosized that California was so broke that everyone who could would leave and that the State would never have a budget!

Sounds sort of like the mess in Washington eh?

 

[leemell]

First Brown is leading by 30 points and as one pundit put it, Kaskari could win only it an asteroid hit Jerry. The Democrats are looking to regain a supermajority in the legislature and may get it. Second, with the economy rebound and the new state sales tax bump, the state is running a significant surplus, the fight is on to see who can spend it first. Third, Cap & Trade is money collected from business to buy credits to exceed pollution limits and the money goes in a fund to reduce pollution. The first year the proceeds of the auctions are about $850M. In three years the proceeds will be about $3-5B.

 

[XHRTSP]

So what's the relevence of this to the LAX-LAS line, if any?

 

[leemell]

Nothing. If you are referring to XpressWest, that was for a Federal loan. This is all state funded possibly with an RRIF loan backed by the C&P money.

 

[XHRTSP]

Didn't think there was. At the risk of pulling the thread off topic, how is that venture looking now a days? Any chance CA & NV would just put in place their own line if XW just turns into a giant dickdance?

 

[leemell]

Little or none. XW needs to change their buy strategy. Their problem was they did not conform to the Buy American statues to the FRA's satisfaction.