Xavier Becerra jolted a Fresno rally on Saturday by telling supporters he would toss out California’s current high-speed rail blueprint and chart a new course to get the long-delayed project finished “on time and on budget.” It was a bold promise for a project that has come to symbolize delays and overruns, and it instantly sharpened an already tense debate over infrastructure in the Central Valley just days before the June 2 primary.
The New York Post reported that Becerra vowed to scrap the current high-speed rail plan and forge a new path to finish the project on budget and on time during the Fresno stop, casting the line as a high-profile break with the project’s long-standing roadmap that could shake up the primary’s final stretch.
Local reporters painted a more intimate scene. The Fresno Bee described a speech heavy on personal touches and broad themes, with Becerra comparing Fresno to Disneyland, talking up family and opportunity in the Valley, and promising not to forget the region. High-Speed Rail Board member Henry Perea and other local officials were spotted in the crowd, underscoring how deeply the bullet train remains entangled with Central Valley politics…