PHOENIX – California's high-speed rail project appears to have survived one legal challenge, as Kings County, Calif. will not further contest the legality of the bonds supporting the train.
Kings County counsel Colleen Carlson told The Bond Buyer Friday that a California Superior Court ruling in Sacramento in March, along with an earlier decision, essentially achieved the purpose the county sought when it became a plaintiff in the suit in 2011 despite technically being legal defeats.
The decisions contain what Carlson described as "hammers:" court orders that the $9.95 billion of bonds, including $9 billion for the high-speed link between Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area must comply with the requirements of the Proposition 1A high-speed rail bond act voters approved in 2008.
"They can't use that money unless they do it the way people voted for it," Carlson said.
Victory in one case is unlikely to spell the end of legal challenges to the $68 billion rail project, which has faced political opposition and legal challenges practically from its inception. The project has faced opposition from lawmakers, lawsuits of both the financial and environmental variety, and may face still more on the ballot this year.
Working their way through the state's bond ballot qualification process are initiatives that would reallocate the unsold high speed rail bonds to water development, or simply prevent their issuance if voters do not reallocate the bonds via the water measure or another initiative on the ballot. The Secretary of State must certify by June 30 whether an initiative has qualified for the November ballot.
