The federal government is re-directing some of the funds those states don't want towards California - just in time for the California High-Speed Rail Authority.  Just last week, they announced the high speed rail project's first stretch of track would connect two rural Central Valley towns through Fresno. That announcement drew a lot of criticism from federal and state politicians, who say the project should run from Fresno to either Merced or Bakersfield.  The Authority's Jeff Barker says that now seems doable, thanks to $620 million more in stimulus funds.

Barker: "Now, since we're still almost two years away from construction, we have the ability now to lump all the money together and say, well, what could we build with this new amount of money?"

Work is scheduled to begin in September 2012.  But the high-speed rail line won't actually start running until tracks connect the Central Valley to either the Bay Area or Los Angeles.