How does the Senator feel about the Governors trip to China and their interest in financing the HSR system?
He believes there is no shortage of interest on an international level because of the dollars on the table. China, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan and South Korea have shown interest. Simitian said he has an open mind since there are no formal proposals on the table. “There are those who say, we need to consider it if someone wants to put their money on the table rather than California taxpayers. On the other hand, you have to ask yourself whether or not a critical piece of infrastructure ought to be in the hands of a foreign government.” What’s all this about the Conflict of Interest with Board Members? Hot off the presses, Sen. Simitian told the audience that there was a last minute attempt to exempt board members of the High Speed Rail during the budget negotiations considering State law, Conflict of Interest code 1099. There was an audible gasp of disbelief from the audience. Simitian said it did not fly but encouraged people to keep an eye on this. He said emphatically he could no
