In rulings issued Monday, Judge Michael Kenny rejected a request from the California High-Speed Rail Authority to sell $8 billion of the $10 billion in bonds approved by voters in 2008. He says state officials were wrong to determine it was "necessary and desirable" to start selling the bonds.
In a separate lawsuit, he ordered the rail authority to redo its $68 billion funding plan before continuing construction, a process that could take months or years.
The lawsuit claimed that the project's current plan no longer complies with what voters were promised, and the judge agreed.
In a statement California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors Chairman Dan Richard said the decisions are being reviewed and stressed the rulings do not stop the project from moving forward.
“This has been a disastrous day for the High Speed Rail Authority," he said. "But it’s been a great day for taxpayers.”
Coupal said the Rail Authority has not been not transparent about the project
The Associate Press contributed to this article.
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