California congressman says no to federal high-speed rail money

Courtesy California High Speed Rail Authority

A rendering of what a high-speed rail train would look like traversing California's desert.

A House Committee is poring over the details of a $260 billion, five-year transportation bill. Fresno Republican Rep. Jeff Denham says he doesn’t want a dime of that money to pay for high-speed rail.

Denham says he wants to make sure the money is spent on roads and bridges.

"We fared very well in this highway bill, but the money that goes to California needs to go to highway funds and transportation," Denham said.

He introduced an amendment that would forbid any transportation dollars for high-speed rail.

When this bill was first introduced, Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica of Florida said high speed rail wasn't in it, subject to negotiation. Denham wants to make sure the bill doesn’t give Gov. Jerry Brown any leeway to reallocate money to building bullet trains.

"I believe it’s always important to clarify your intent," Denham said. "I’ve seen a lot of things mentioned in a lot of different hearings. I always believe having a vote on it is much more tolerable."

Chairman Mica said he’s a “big fan” of high-speed rail, but with states returning money and California’s poor start, he wants to sit down with key players to come up with something all can agree on.