![\"Ashley](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/21271fb1-6e06-4bcf-8b56-97b158a0e14b_1759272616.png\")
<\/a>SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014<\/p>\nCalifornia’s High-Speed Rail project could run out of money as soon as December 2027, and project leaders are not being clear about the issue, according to a new report from the project’s inspector general. <\/p>\n
Benjamin Belnap, the Inspector General for the High-Speed Rail, released an updated review of the project’s revised 2026 business plan Tuesday, flagging the cash issue. <\/p>\n
The High-Speed Rail Authority’s original 2026 business plan had major gaps in information<\/a> that the authority attempted to fill with an edited version earlier this summer. Belnap signaled that the changes were not enough, and the plan still violates state law. <\/p>\n In a letter to lawmakers and the governor, in an introduction to the report<\/a>, the Inspector General included a set of bullet points, including one that stated: “the business plan does not sufficiently emphasize that the Authority will exhaust its current funding resources as soon as December 2027 if it does not secure financing.” <\/p>\n The lack of cash could mean the project could be on the brink of a financial crisis at the start of 2027 if lawmakers and the governor don’t address it by the end of this legislative session, which ends Aug. 31. <\/p>\n The state has so far spent $18 billion on the project. Its first planned segment, Merced to Bakersfield, is expected to cost at least $36 billion. The original vision, Los Angeles to San Francisco, is expected to cost between $126 billion and $231 billion. <\/p>\n The High-Speed Rail project has lost $4 billion in funds from the federal government, and it has yet to secure the private investment project leaders have been seeking. <\/p>\n The project was expected to get $1 billion a year from California’s greenhouse gas emission fund over the next 20 years, but because of recent rule changes that may impact that fund, it’s not clear exactly how much money the project will have access to annually. California’s state budget that passed earlier this summer did not include any new money for the project. <\/p>\n The High-Speed Rail Authority’s business plan notes its possible funding options include borrowing internally from state resources, revenue bonds and private sector financing.<\/p>\n “Exploration of specific financing mechanisms is a positive step, but because the Authority might run out of funding as soon as December 2027, and the financing strategy the Authority uses has the potential to significantly affect the amount of interest it will need to repay, the Authority and state lawmakers have little time for delay in deciding upon a strategy and implementing it,” the Office of the Inspector General wrote. <\/p>\n Belnap also said in his report that the High-Speed Rail’s business plan does not disclose the fact that the segment could now be delayed up to September of 2034, instead of 2032-2033. It’s also not clear how much more it will cost. <\/p>\n Belnap wrote the business plan overall raises transparency concerns despite various recommendations from the inspector general’s office. <\/p>\n “Instead, the Authority has obscured basic facts about the project, hindering lawmakers\u2019 ability to provide effective oversight of the project and, in so doing, creating obstacles to achieving changes it seeks that require stakeholder agreement and legislative action,” Belnap wrote. <\/p>\n “Because the Authority has thus far not demonstrated a willingness to establish and reinforce a process that ensures accuracy and transparency in project reporting, we have directed our report recommendations to the Board. Specifically, we are recommending that the Board adopt and reinforce a policy governing the Authority\u2019s annual reports that includes establishing adequate timelines for preparing and reviewing complete annual reports that stakeholders can review prior to issuance,” Belnap concluded. <\/p>\n A spokesperson for the California High-Speed Rail Authority released the following response: \u201cThe California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) values constructive oversight and partnership that helps strengthen the program, and we are committed to working together to bring California\u2019s voter\u2011approved high\u2011speed rail system to reality. The Authority has fundamentally reoriented the high-speed rail project by moving into its tracklaying phase, while making real, measurable progress through strong collaboration with the private sector and our partners across the state.\u201d <\/p>\n Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, the Assembly transportation committee chair released the following statement: “While the Assemblywoman remains supportive of California High Speed Rail, she understands the project faces challenges. At this juncture, the Assemblywoman looks forward to discussing any potential funding issues at the next Assembly Transportation Committee oversight hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n The transportation committee chair of the Senate State Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.<\/p>\n The Office of the Inspector General and Legislative Analyst first raised red flags about the business plan this spring during hearings at the state Capitol. <\/p>\n Among the significant changes is a plan to move the location of the planned high-speed rail station in Merced, which was expected to be built downtown. The draft business plan would move it to a more suburban area, but it is obscure about the details and impact on the project overall, officials said.<\/p>\n The High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors approved the plan in June. <\/a><\/p>\n See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a> | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California high-speed rail project could run out of cash next year, inspector general warns SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 California’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[1380,33575,33572,33577,33584,33569,33573,33585,33570,5734,33583,29518,33579,23752,33578,33582,8,9476,33586,33571,24309,1379,1251,33574,33587,9,1688,33580,5154,33581,2033,5932,33576,23419,7,33588],"class_list":["post-64235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-stories","tag-authority","tag-bakersfield","tag-benjamin-belnap","tag-business-plan","tag-business-plan-tuesday","tag-california-high-speed-rail","tag-california-high-speed-rail-authority","tag-california-high-speed-rail-project","tag-california-rail-project","tag-change","tag-dave-cortese","tag-december","tag-december-2027","tag-federal-funding","tag-funding-crisis","tag-greenhouse-gas-fund","tag-headlines","tag-high-speed-rail","tag-high-speed-rail-authority","tag-inspector-general","tag-kcra","tag-lawmaker","tag-los-angeles","tag-merced","tag-new-report","tag-news","tag-office","tag-private-investment","tag-project","tag-revenue-bonds","tag-san-francisco","tag-state-budget","tag-state-law","tag-summer","tag-top-stories","tag-transparency-concern"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}