> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Playing games with rail line - URL: https://www.smdp.com/playing-games-with-rail-line/ - Published: 2007-08-14T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T02:34:13.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Government & Politics, Downtown, #archive-import *Budget impasse stalls funding* DOWNTOWN LA Behind the smiles and celebration at the historic ground-breaking ceremony of the Exposition Light Rail last week, questions loomed as to whether more project funding would be made available by the state next month. Today marks the 45th day since the beginning of the fiscal year — 45 days without a new budget whose passage once again reached an impasse on Aug. 1, when the state Senate failed to approve it 26-14. A two-thirds vote is required to pass the budget in California, leaving the state Senate one vote shy. The state Assembly has already approved the budget — which includes diverting $1.3 billion of transportation funding to the general fund — in July. From there, it has gone on to the Senate, where it has been mired in political infighting for over a month. The California Transportation Commission, the state agency that allocates funds for transit construction projects, plans to wait until its September meeting to appropriate money for transit projects, including an estimated $314 million for the Exposition Light Rail project, which is slated to reach Santa Monica once completed. The vote next month is pending adoption of the state budget, said John Barna, the executive director of the CTC. The delay in funding puts Expo leaders and advocates in a nervous situation, awaiting word on whether they will get their millions sooner rather than later, as construction has already begun on the first phase of the project. The first phase of the project — which will travel from Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City — is estimated to cost $640 million, of which more than $550 million will come from state funding. The state government has already allocated about $250 million, bringing the total amount in the coffers to about $300 million — enough to take construction halfway of the 8.6 miles of track in phase one, said Samantha Bricker, the chief operating officer for the Exposition Construction Authority. Bricker said she is confident that the California Transportation Commission will make good on its promise and allocate the $314 million when the time comes. “We are under construction and we are a high rated project,” Bricker said. “We are also working hard to make sure that they know it’s important they give us that allocation.” Delays in getting state funding secured for Expo could only further delay the extension of rail line from Culver City to Santa Monica, which is phase two of the project. Phase two is currently undergoing an environmental impact assessment, which will be made available to the public next winter. Phase one is scheduled to open in 2010 and phase two in 2015. WHOSE HOLDING THINGS UP? In the blame game of who is holding up the budget, senate Democratic leaders accuse their Republican counterparts of holding up adoption of the budget, pointing to the Republicans who have yet to come on board in moving the state’s fiscal matters along. The Republicans on the other hand have insisted that their goal is to balance the budget, erasing the ongoing deficit to zero, which they believe the current proposal does anything but. Only one Republican — Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria — has joined in supporting the current budget proposal. The senate Republicans introduced a revised budget on Aug. 1 that detailed further cuts. The proposal was subsequently rejected by the Democrats. Among the state senators that have continued to withhold their vote for adoption is Republican Sen. George Runner, whose district includes the Antelope Valley and portions of San Bernardino County. “It’s because the budget is not balanced and he believes that this state, just like families, ought to not spend more than it takes in,” said Will Smith, Runner’s chief of staff. Sen. Sheila Kuehl, an Expo advocate whose district includes Santa Monica, was among the senators that voted to approve the budget with the $1.3 billion in transit cuts, though she didn’t do it happily, said Laurie Newman, Kuehl’s senior deputy. “We were only able to get one Republican vote for the budget,” Newman said. “There’s no movement right now.” Pam O’Connor, the chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, noted that the political games up in Sacramento are not only holding up transportation funding, but all agency funding. “We’re holding up making a decision on those monies even though they are good candidates because we too don’t know for sure,” O’Connor said. “We’re also awaiting the state budget outcome before we make a commitment for projects to fund.” Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom said he found the situation in Sacramento disconcerting, especially since construction has already begun for Expo. “We are working very hard to make sure that the CTC are able to allocate the $314 million that is shipped to the contracts that need to be issued,” he said. Long-time Expo advocates, including the Friends 4 Expo Transit, have been flooding state officials in Sacramento with letters and phone calls, but acknowledge there is only so much they could do at the grassroots level. “Here we are, grassroots advocates, we can write the governor and hope he pays a little attention and hope that he has some clout with Republicans in the State Senate who are so far saying no,” said Darrell Clarke of Friends 4 Expo Transit. With all the work that’s gone into Expo over the years and growing congestion in Los Angeles, Clarke said he found the politics in Sacramento to be frustrating. “Transportation is horrible and it’s only getting worse and to have these political games going on,” Clarke said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/081407-01_01.jpg) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 14, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081407.pdf?ref=smdp.com)