Map of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s most sweeping economic development programs could see a limited spending cap and permanent guidelines under a recently passed proposal.
The state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (often called “R-Cap”) provides grants with borrowed money for private projects pursued by municipalities and local agencies.
That could include hospital expansions, parking garages or community centers — any project with a cultural, civic or historical connection that could create jobs and be tied to economic development.
But the program is often criticized as a questionable source of ballooning debt.
RACP’s debt ceiling is $4.05 billion, about 10 times what it was when it was created in 1986.
