High-speed rail bill passes Assembly, heads to Senate

(The Center Square) – A bill that aims to keep some California high-speed rail records confidential passed the Assembly on Monday afternoon, adding some fuel to the fire for some lawmakers who are already critical of the $126.2 billion project.

Assembly Bill 1608 authorizes the high-speed rail’s inspector general to keep some reports out of the public eye. The bill would also allow the inspector general to keep parts of certain reports secret if the report reveals weaknesses that put the high-speed rail project at risk.

The bill passed 45 to 18 and now heads to the Senate.

“When the office [of the high-speed rail inspector general] was created, the Legislature did not include provisions requiring the office to make its reports public or protections to ensure the inspector...