SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - High-speed rail executives are urging skeptical lawmakers to provide more long-term funding for the bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco in the face of ballooning costs.
An Assembly panel took testimony Monday on the project's 2018 business plan, which raised the total price tag to $77 billion.
Rail chief executive Brian Kelly says the project only has about $20 to $28 billion right now. He's asking lawmakers to provide more money through cap-and-trade, which raises money from companies that release greenhouse gases, to finance more of the cost.
Lawmakers pressed Kelly on the project's long-term viability and whether it's realistic to expect completion by 2033 or at all.
Democratic Assemblyman Jim Frazier, the transportation committee chairman, says completing the project "will not be for the faint of heart."
