Boxer renews commitment to Villaraigosa's 30/10 transit plan
Facing attacks on her effectiveness from rival Fiorina, the U.S. senator said she is working on getting Congress to help make funds available for key Southern California transportation projects.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said she is working on legislation that would aid L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa's 30/10 transit plan. (Christina House, For The Times / August 19, 2010)
By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times
August 24, 2010
"Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer renewed her commitment Monday to securing federal assistance for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan to accelerate 12 of the region's transit projects, completing them in one decade instead of three.
Facing unrelenting attacks on her effectiveness as a lawmaker by her campaign rival, Republican Carly Fiorina, Boxer tried to highlight her policymaking skills by joining Villaraigosa, as well as environmental, business and labor leaders for a "working group" discussion that unfolded in front of a dozen reporters and a line of television cameras at City Hall.
Villaraigosa and officials at the county's Metropolitan Transportation Authority are hoping to secure a combination of federal loans, interest rate subsidies and other financing to speed up projects approved as part of Measure R. The half-penny sales tax approved by voters in 2008 is expected to generate as much as $40 billion over the next three decades for projects that include a subway extension to Westwood, a segment of the Gold Line light rail line from Pasadena to Azusa and an 8.5-mile rail line along Crenshaw Blvd into South Los Angeles and the South Bay. Officials say the dozen projects could generate 166,000 jobs..."
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