'The Absolute Definition Of Insanity': Kiley Unleashes On Newsom's Budget, High Speed Rail Funding

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During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Kevin Kiley (D-CA) denounced Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D-CA) newly unveiled state budget proposal that included increased funding for California's high speed rail project.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Speaker, yesterday California Governor Gavin Newsom finally backed down from his

00:06irresponsible, reckless policy of providing full-scope Medicaid, Medi-Cal coverage to

00:13every person who is income eligible in our state illegally.

00:18Of course, the Governor did not do the right thing on his own, but only in response to

00:22the pressure that we have brought to bear.

00:25It has been painfully obvious that this policy, which no other state in the country has, was

00:31utterly unsustainable and was threatening the solvency of Medicaid in California itself.

00:38The cost has ballooned for this year to $10 billion, over three times what was initially

00:44estimated.

00:45The Governor has had to take out an emergency loan and then separately go to the legislature

00:50in the middle of the year for a bailout.

00:54So the Governor has finally acknowledged this, that the policy should never have been enacted,

00:59and he has said he is going to freeze any new enrollment by adults who are in our country

01:05illegally.

01:06However, the Governor is only partially reversing his policy.

01:11Indeed, by the time this freeze goes into effect, we will have already spent $23 billion, $23

01:19billion that could have gone towards improving access to care for legal California residents.

01:26So the partial repeal is not a solution.

01:29For one thing, it will continue to cost us enormous sums in state tax dollars.

01:34And for another, it could lead to the loss of billions and billions of dollars every year

01:40in federal funding.

01:41So as I called on the Governor before to repeal this policy, as I've introduced legislation

01:46requiring him to do so, I am now calling on Governor Newsom not to go halfway, but to completely

01:52reverse this reckless, disastrous policy that no other state in the country has.

02:02Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Governor Newsom introduced his budget proposal in Sacramento and has decided

02:09to double state funding for high-speed rail.

02:14This is the absolute definition of insanity.

02:17It has been some 16 years, 17 years, since the project was approved, $17 billion have been

02:25spent and there has not been a single passenger.

02:29Even under the most wildly optimistic scenarios, we're going to have a line from Palmdale to

02:35Gilroy in 20 years that will require two hours of additional travel on each end to get from

02:41San Francisco to LA.

02:43So in 20 years, riders will be able to get from San Francisco to LA in six hours, something

02:48you can do on a plane in one hour today.

02:51This project has been called a project that won't even be built within the next century by

02:57even sources like the New York Times.

03:00I've introduced legislation to eliminate all future federal funding for high-speed rail.

03:05The governor continues to believe that federal funding will come.

03:09It is not going to come.

03:10There is currently an investigation by the Department of Transportation as well.

03:14And I've asked for an investigation from FBI Director Cash Patel to look into exactly

03:19where all of this money went.

03:20It is time to end this irresponsible failure of a project.

03:25the biggest public infrastructure failure in U.S. history once and for all and put our

03:29transportation dollars where they are needed towards improving our roads, repairing potholes,

03:35alleviating traffic on things that will actually benefit the quality of life for Californians.

03:40I yield back.

03:41I yield back.

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