A Sacramento County judge ruled Friday that the agency overseeing the California bullet train failed to comply with the financial and environmental requirements voters were promised when they approved initial funding for the project five years ago.
But rail officials said the project will proceed as planned with a groundbreaking this summer after Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny said the Legislature was within its authority last year to approve the first $8 billion phase of the project anyway.
Kenny said the rail authority "abused its discretion by approving a funding plan that did not comply with the requirements of the law." After another round of court briefs, the judge will hold another hearing to determine whether to penalize the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
So they can still proceed with the groundbreaking, and I assume that the next step after the Penalty hearing will be the California State Supreme Court in San Francisco. My guess is based on what I have seen with some ballot measures here.
