ABC27 WHTM Pa. committee votes out bill to limit state borrowing

Pa. committee votes out bill to limit state borrowing

A state committee has approved a bill to limit the borrowing of taxpayer money for projects such as sports stadiums and libraries named for former politicians.

House Bill 2175 would reduce the debt ceiling of the Commonwealth's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Project (RACP), a program created to fund economic development and infrastructure projects.

The measure was voted out of the House Finance Committee on Monday.

Committee chair Rep. Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin), who co-sponsored the measure, said the program had a debt ceiling of approximately $1.2 billion in 1999, but some 8,000 projects have been added since then and the debt ceiling was raised to more than $4 billion.

Millions of dollars have been earmarked through the program help build stadiums for professional sports teams, to fund a library named after former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, and to fund a public policy center named after former U.S. Congressman John Murtha.

"People are tired of seeing their hard-earned money used to pay for legacy projects for politicians," Benninghoff said in a news release. "This program has gone far outside its original intent of providing help with legitimate economic development projects."

The bill would reduce the RACP debt ceiling initially by a half-billion dollars to $3.5 billion and then continue to incrementally decrease the debt limit until it falls to $1.5 billion.

The legislation also calls for stricter limits on the type of projects eligible to receive funding and would increase oversight of the program.