Brown Calls for California High-Speed Rail, Water Projects
January 21, 2012, 9:21 AM ESTBy James Nash and Michael B. Marois
(Updates with Brown comment in fourth paragraph.)
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- California Governor Jerry Brown reaffirmed support for a $98.5 billion high-speed passenger rail system and a $12 billion effort to improve the most populous state’s water supply.
California is “on the mend” after years of fiscal distress and needs the projects to continue to grow, Brown said today in his State of the State message.
“Those who believe that California is in decline will naturally shrink back from such a strenuous undertaking,” Brown said of the proposed 800-mile rail network to link California’s metropolitan areas. “I understand that feeling but I don’t share it, because I know this state and the spirit of the people who choose to live here.”
Brown said he plans to move ahead with a November ballot measure that would temporarily raise sales taxes and income taxes on people who make $250,000 a year or more. The governor is bypassing Republican opposition in the Legislature by putting the issue before voters.
--Editors: Pete Young, Stephen Merelman
To contact the reporters on this story: James Nash in Sacramento at jnash24@bloomberg.net; Michael B. Marois in Sacramento at mmarois@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net
