FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill requiring the state’s High-Speed Rail Authority to create a funding plan.
Newsom signed Assembly Bill 377 on Wednesday, requiring the rail authority to update cost estimates, risk assessments and service initiation options for the Merced to Bakersfield segment in its 2026 business plan.
The bill was authored by Central Valley Assemblymember David Tangipa, who called his bill a necessity.
“My bill is an important step to make sure Fresno and the Central Valley are not left with an unfinished monument of wasted taxpayer dollars,” Tangipa said in a statement.
The signing comes as California’s High Speed Rail Authority is suing the Trump Administration to keep $4 billion worth of federal funding for the project.
In June, the High-Speed Rail Authority said it expected trains to be rolling by 2030, ten years after the initial goal and well above the original estimated cost of $33 billion.
Now, it’s expected to cost between $89 and $128 billion.
“California’s high-speed rail project is a critical investment in our future, and we must remain focused on policies that help clear the path to completion,” Newsom said in a signing statement.
Under Governor Newsom’s current budget, the rail effort would receive $1 billion annually over the next 20 years to complete its initial operating segment.
