From MORNING CALL:
…The Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (abbreviated RACP, but pronounced R-CAP) was created in 1993 with a debt limit of $700 million. This debt ceiling has been increased regularly, mostly under Gov. Rendell’s watch, with the latest $600 million hike increasing the limit to more than $4 billion…
For starters, RACP grants, though part of the state capital budget, are not true capital expenditures. Like a family borrowing to buy a home or going into debt to expand a business, government can appropriately issue bonds to build facilities, schools and roads. But handouts to politically selected companies and special interests are an improper use of taxpayer-backed debt.
Furthermore, the use of state debt under Gov. Rendell represents an oversized credit card with an ever-increasing spending limit. It is one thing for a state to borrow for infrastructure projects and then pay off that debt over the life of the project, but Pennsylvania continues to borrow and spend more each year while only making the minimum payment due…
Click here to read the full article.
Were there not a number of RACP grants to build the downtown Lancaster hotel tower for the Penn Square Partners? What would this be, other than “corporate welfare”?