[Letter from Brian C. Annis]

October 22, 2018

Elaine M. Howie, California State Auditor*
California State Auditor's Office
621 Capitol Mall, Suite 1200
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Ms. Howlie:

Attached please find a response from the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) to your draft audit report (#2018-108) issued October 15, 2018. Thank you for allowing the Authority and the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) the opportunity to respond to the report.

From the outset, CalSTA and the Authority's new Chief Executive Officer and executive management team welcomed your audit and now appreciates your identification of opportunities for improvement. Accordingly, the Authority concurs with all recommendations in the report and either already has taken steps toward implementing them or has established timelines to do so.

If you need additional information regarding the Authority's response, please do not hesitate to contact Michael Tritz, CalSTA Deputy Secretary for Audits and Performance Improvement, at (916) 324-7517.

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* California State Auditor's comments begin on page 85.