Corbett will review, may rescind many of Rendell’s parting gifts
Governor Ed Rendell, playing Santa Claus with taxpayer dollars during his last three months in office with an estimated $488 million in grants, may force his successor, Tom Corbett, to play “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.”
After he is sworn in on Jan. 18, Mr. Corbett will review all the grants that have not been “signed, sealed and delivered” to determine which will be continued and which he will repeal.
It is unknown how many of the contracts with the state have been signed. Recipients must put up matching funds for the projects in question.
Faced with an estimated operating deficit of $4 to $5 billion, the new governor will likely be taking away a number of Mr. Rendell’s parting gifts.
The money for the projects comes from bond issues and is doled out through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP). Rendell administration officials have admitted it will take taxpayers 20 years and $660 million to pay back the $488 million.
Mr. Rendell’s last minute grant-spree is coming under attack from various quarters, including House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny), a longtime critic of the RACP. “I think we should shut down the program. (The state government) is not a venture capital program or philanthropy.”
“Pennsylvania has been trying to bribe businesses to come or stay here for decades and it has been an utter failure,” said Matthew Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation.
Gary Tuma, Mr. Rendell’s spokesman, said many lawmakers who publicly oppose the grants have shown up at ribbon-cuttings and ground breakings shaking hands and applauding the projects funded by state taxpayers.
Of the $488 million committed during the final three months of the Rendell Administration, about one-third has gone to Mr. Rendell’s home city of Philadelphia and nearly 11 percent has gone to Pittsburgh projects.
The largest single amount, $20 million, is earmarked for Lackawanna County to refurbish a minor league baseball stadium to be used by the New York Yankees minor league affiliate.
The grants include funds for a wide variety of programs and projects ranging from a youth hockey program to renovations of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Hall, to a senior center for gays, lesbians and transsexuals, to the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, to Kohl’s department store in Lycoming County.
