{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221165438/http://denham.house.gov/press-release/denham-requests-gao-review-california-high-speed-rail-spending-agreements", "Denham Requests GAO Review of California High-Speed Rail Spending Agreements", "2013-11-26", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "CA", "Jeffrey Denham", "D000612", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Representative Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) today sent a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro requesting that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) review the California High-Speed Rail Authority\u2019s (Authority) funding agreements with the federal government.\nIn the letter, Rep. Denham, Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, noted that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Authority\u2019s existing grant agreement requires that federal funding is matched with 50 percent state funding. However, on November 25, 2013, a California Superior Court denied the Authority\u2019s request to issue more than $8 billion in California Proposition 1A state bonds to finance construction of the project. This ruling has eliminated the only identified source for the state match.\n\u201cMy top priority is to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly,\u201d said Rep. Denham. \u201cThe Authority has already spent hundreds of millions of federal taxpayer dollars, and now has no identified state matching funds. I am requesting that the GAO review the Authority\u2019s grant agreement with the FRA to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not wasted.\u201d\nRep. Denham asked that the GAO determine if the Authority is violating or on the verge of violating its grant agreements with the federal government and if the state court rulings on November 25, 2013 put the FRA in violation of federal laws, including the Anti-Deficiency Act.\nThe letter was also signed by U.S. Representative Tom Latham (R-Iowa), Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies.\nFull text of the letter is available online here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221165438/http://denham.house.gov/press-release/denham-requests-gao-review-california-high-speed-rail-spending-agreements"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5704079996794462, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}