AB 3034, a bill which would have made improvements to Proposition 1 (the high speed rail bond), is being held up by Senate Republicans who are using last-minute objections to cover their opposition to the entire project. Just as Republicans are using the 2/3 rule to hold the state budget hostage they are doing the same with AB 3034, which requires a 2/3 vote to pass.

But whereas we have to have a budget sometime, there is no commitment from Republicans to build high speed rail. They still believe, against all available evidence, that an oil-based transportation system is workable. Their real solution to gas prices and the airline crisis is more drilling, not more rail. They continue to believe global warming is a hoax and are willfully blind to the positive economic impact of high speed rail.

Their objections are transparently ridiculous. They're last-minute concerns that serve as the ostensible purpose fronting their real desire - killing high speed rail.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that TODAY is the printing deadline for the November ballot and that there might be some sort of "supplemental ballot" with a revised Prop 1 while the original Prop 1 would remain on the ballot. Sorry folks, that's not remotely workable.
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