Rendell Signs Bill Giving Him Access to $600M Slush Fund

With less than six months to go as governor, Ed Rendell has signed a bill into law that raises the state debt limit by $600 million, giving Rendell access to a lucrative slush fund he can spend on his way out the door.

Rendell has already said he will use some of the borrowed tax dollars to pay for new public buildings that would be named after two of his favorite fellow Democrats - U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter and the late Rep. John Murtha.

The slush fund was part of the budget agreement Rendell worked out with Legislative leaders, who gave Rendell a pass on his $28 billion deficit budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year that began July 1.

About half of the projects that the slush fund will finance are being hand-picked by Rendell, while legislators expect to assemble a second list in the coming months that also must be authorized by legislation before they can receive money, according to The Associated Press.

From the AP's Marc Levy:

Rendell is earmarking $10 million for the Arlen Specter Library at Philadelphia University and another $10 million for the John P. Murtha Center for Public Policy at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

The Democratic governor also is setting aside $20 million for an "American Revolution Center" in Philadelphia and $30 million for a biologics manufacturing facility in Pittsburgh.

Governor Rendell Signs Legislation

See related editorial, "Spend, spend, spend: Rendell's parting insult," at The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Website.