On March 19, the California Attorney General’s office filed a complaint for a validation action against all interested people in the world in Sacramento Superior Court on behalf of the California High Speed Rail Authority (“Authority”). A validation action is a process granted only to public agencies under California law that permits such agencies to obtain judicial rulings on the legality of government actions that obligate public funds. The Authority’s action seeks the court’s validation of the $8.6 billion in voter-approved bonds under Proposition 1A for the high speed rail project. If the court validates the use of the bonds, any person seeking to challenge the Authority’s use of the bonds will forever be precluded from filing a suit. Because this suit is limited to the Authority’s use of the bonds, any pending and future litigation challenging the project will not be precluded by this validation action.
The summons for this action is being served by publication in newspapers of general circulation. It gives all interested people until May 9, 2013 to respond to the lawsuit. Notice of the lawsuit will be published once each week for three success weeks in the following five major newspapers: The Sacramento Bee, The San Francisco Chronicle, The San Diego Union Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and The Fresno Bee.