Saturday, Aug. 09, 2008

Our View: High-speed rail hostage

Governor's veto vow may threaten passage of crucial bond measure if it's not signed by Monday.

Legislation meant to enhance the chances of passing Proposition 1, the high-speed rail bond measure on the November ballot, finally passed the Senate on Thursday.

That's good news, but the bill -- and the bond measure -- may wind up hostage to the ongoing budget stalemate in Sacramento.

AB 3034, by Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, would make a number of changes urged by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, including a cap on administrative costs by the agency that will build the system, an updated business plan for attracting federal and private investment, and the opportunity for segments of the line not envisioned as part of the system's first phase to compete for the initial funding from the $9.9 billion bond.

More good news for the Valley: Several Republican senators who've been among the most vocal critics of high-speed rail -- Roy Ashburn, Jeff Denham and Dave Cogdill -- voted to move AB 3034 along.

We have long been puzzled by their indifference or outright opposition to a project that would benefit the Valley more than it would any other part of the state.

Perhaps they've come around.

But Schwarzenegger vowed Wednesday to veto any legislation that reaches his desk -- or is already there -- until the Legislature comes up with a budget.

That's a problem, because the ballot language for Proposition 1 needs to be finalized by Monday. If it isn't, the changes the governor sought won't be part of the language that voters will address in November.

So the governor has worked himself into a nice fix.

If he keeps his grandstanding promise to let all bills languish or die until the budget is on his desk, he risks defeat for a high-speed rail measure he says he supports strongly.

But if he reneges on his veto promise -- even in this case only -- he risks being perceived as weak by the Legislature, whose members would love seeing him politically emasculated.

A spokesman for the governor said the high-speed legislation wouldn't be an exception to the governor's vow.

Apparently that makes sense in Sacramento, but the logic escapes us.

The high-speed rail project is the most promising public-works effort since the state built its water system.

Now this crucial measure could face a tougher fight at the polls in November just so the governor and the Legislature can continue the painful theatrical farce that passes for governance in Sacramento.

State workers have already been thrown into anxiety, worrying whether they'll be paid for the work they do.

Local governments face deep and painful cuts in their budgets.

The sick, the elderly, the young, the poor -- the usual suspects -- will bear the brunt of closing a $15 billion deficit.

And now the governor is willing to risk high-speed rail and its benefits -- a generation of well-paying construction and engineering jobs, cleaner air, reduced dependence on foreign oil and a cheaper alternative to more and more highways and failing airlines -- all for the sake of posturing on the budget.

In that, he perfectly resembles most of our legislators.

They're becoming such birds of a feather, it's a wonder they don't get along better.

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