Infrastructure

High-speed rail agency lacks leader at crucial juncture

Four months after then-California High Speed Rail Authority Chief Executive Jeff Morales told authority board members he was moving on and two months after Morales made his decision public, the agency overseeing the state’s $64 billion bullet train project hasn’t

Push begins to overturn new California gas tax

James Poulos May 15, 2017

A fresh effort has been launched to reverse Gov. Jerry Brown’s fuel and vehicle tax deal, passed narrowly in Sacramento on the strength of a series of sharply criticized side deals. “Only one Republican – state Sen. Anthony Cannella – voted in favor

Brown gets new gas tax through

James Poulos April 10, 2017

At the end of a tumultuous road, a wheeling and dealing Gov. Jerry Brown secured passage of a high-stakes new gas tax raising over $50 billion in ten years. “The California Legislature passed Senate Bill 1 on Thursday night, raising

How to fund infrastructure fixes: Tax hikes or rearranging spending priorities?

Steven Greenhut April 4, 2017

Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislators are pitching a transportation-tax proposal they depict as the only means to fix California’s crumbling roads, freeways and bridges. One would be hard pressed to find any policy maker in California who doesn’t bemoan

Proposed gas tax hike includes protection against fund diversions

Chris Reed April 2, 2017

Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders continued their push Friday for quick approval of higher vehicle taxes and fees to pay for a 10-year, $52 billion plan to upgrade California’s roads and highways with the release of legislative language

California seeks fourth federal disaster declaration

James Poulos March 29, 2017

Still reeling from a wild weather season, California chalked up a fourth request for federal disaster aid, as Gov. Jerry Brown lodged the request en route to Washington earlier this month. “Putting the price tag of California’s brutal winter storms at $569

Deferral of federal funds casts fresh doubt on California high-speed rail

James Poulos March 1, 2017

The new administration in Washington, D.C., has added another hurdle to California’s already difficult road to high-speed rail. Drawing fire from Democrats and cheers from Republicans, the Department of Transportation “has deferred a decision on a $647-million grant that

Bridge woes compound California infrastructure troubles

James Poulos February 26, 2017

Dams aren’t the only part of California infrastructure on the hot seat. Following a big-ticket Sacramento request for federal building funds, a new report has concluded that the number of state bridges in dangerously inadequate condition reaches into the

State watchdog agency points to flaws in bond oversight

Steven Greenhut February 22, 2017

SACRAMENTO – The Oroville Dam’s near disaster has ignited a long-overdue debate about the condition of California’s infrastructure, and the need for additional investments in its creaky system of dams, levees, freeways, bridges and schools. Democrats and Republicans agree on

With old warnings unheeded, Oroville Dam problems threaten valley

Steven Greenhut February 14, 2017

SACRAMENTO – A Sacramento Bee story published Monday succinctly described the disaster unfolding at the nation’s tallest dam, where flaws in the Oroville Dam’s concrete spillway are forcing water onto the earthen emergency spillway. Threats of a spillway collapse