Gavin Newsom vetoes bill giving high-speed rail watchdog more power

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have given the watchdog of California’s expensive, delayed high-speed rail project the powers it says it needs to quickly staff up and provide expert oversight.

The Democratic governor vetoed Assembly Bill 1608, which would exempt the Inspector General of high-speed rail from a lengthy job reclassification process for qualified auditors and give it a $1 million purchase authority to avoid drawn-out contracting rules.

Those tools are “absolutely essential” for its auditing, the inspector general previously said.

“My office has been slowed in its effort to complete these reviews,” Inspector Benjamin Belnap told lawmakers back in June.

Belnap said his office is half-staffed, despite year-round recruiting efforts because experienced auditors don’t qualify under the current low-level job classifications he’s authorized to hire for.

Belnap says he’s had to turn away “fabulous” candidates, CBS reported.

The inspector general told lawmakers that acquiring standard software for his relatively new office was a pain, leading to delays and cost increases.

“My office can develop its own classifications… and can seek a purchasing delegation… but both of these tasks take years and would require more administrative resources than my office presently has,” he said, arguing the bill would help cut through the red tape.

Newsom, in his veto statement, disagreed. He said his administration was already planning to increase the inspector general’s “information technology project delegation authority” among other actions intended to support the office.

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“The Office should continue working with the appropriate state agencies to address its operational needs through existing processes rather than receive broad, permanent exemptions from generally applicable statewide administrative safeguards,” the governor wrote.

Newsom noted that California already approved some other parts of the bill through the budget process, including the power for the inspector general to shield its reports from the public if deemed necessary. Republicans have slammed those “anti-transparency” provisions.

Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who authored the bill, said in a statement to The Post that at least some progress was made.

“We got a significant portion of the bill into the budget. We were able to get a procurement increase, so the Office of the Inspector General has more purchasing power,” Wilson said. “I also recognize the classification piece is what was vetoed and I look forward to working with the next Governor to make sure the Office has what it needs.”

The Inspector General’s office told The Post in a statement that it was “disappointed” in the veto.

“Despite this setback, the OIG-HSR is committed to overcoming the administrative hurdles AB 1608 would have otherwise resolved and are encouraged by the Governor’s message offering continued support to overcome these challenges,” the office added in its statement.

The Inspector General’s watchdog authority has become especially consequential given the high-speed rail project’s ballooning costs and delays.

The Rail Authority paid more than $680,000 in dubious travel expenses to consultants connected to the project — including premium plane tickets and rideshare trips to gyms, nightclubs and an “escape room,” according to a damning inspector general audit published this month.

The ambitious high-speed rail megaproject is also facing a critical cash bottleneck and could run out of money by the end of 2027 if it doesn’t secure additional financing, the watchdog warned.

The estimated cost of the train project has ballooned to a staggering $231 billion, according to one projection, with completion now delayed until roughly 2039. However, the rail authority pegs the project cost at $126.3 billion after a reassessment this year.

The bullet train is far from complete since workers broke ground on the project in 2015. Only this year did the ill-fated rail project enter what officials called the “track-laying phase.”