Jindal vs Cao on high speed rail.

Jindal rejects $300 million in stimulus money for high-speed rail | DailyComet.com | The Thibodaux Daily Comet | Thibodaux, LA

BATON ROUGE — Gov. Bobby Jindal is at odds with a fellow Louisiana Republican over the governor's decision not to seek $300 million in federal stimulus money for a high-speed rail line between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Like other governors, Jindal had a midnight Friday deadline to submit an application for the money. But Jindal aides have said the administration is not applying because of concerns about the project's ongoing costs. They said the state would incur an annual $18 million bill to run the rail system once it became operational.

But U.S. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, R-New Orleans, on Friday called on Jindal to apply for the money. Since all U.S. taxpayers will foot the bill for the stimulus spending, Cao said, the state's elected officials should see that Louisiana gets its fair share.

"It's our duty to obtain as much as we can to rebuild this region," Cao said at a news conference at his city's train station.