HARRISBURG -- State legislators usually call it "bringing home the bacon."

Critics use different terms, such as "earmarking," or "pork-barreling" or just "pork."

As members of Congress do in Washington -- fighting for federal money for big-ticket local projects that will impress their constituents -- state legislators also compete for state dollars for projects in their districts or home regions.

Officially, it's called the state capital budget process. The total of the requested projects is $12.7 billion for the 2007-08 fiscal year, which ends June 30. By this point in a fiscal year, legislators usually have enacted a capital budget, but this year it's taken them longer to agree on how much to spend.

Last week, the state Senate finally approved the proposed budget and the House is expected to vote soon. Once that's done, legislators must get to work on a capital budget for 2008-09, which starts July 1.

But just because a project is included on the list approved by the House and Senate doesn't mean it's actually going to be funded, noted Chuck Ardo, a spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell. The governor has to sign off on any project before it actually gets state money, and the state can't afford to spend anywhere near $12.7 billion, he added.

Some projects are from the Pittsburgh area, such as:

• $100 million for several U.S. Steel Corp. projects in Clairton. In December, U.S. Steel announced plans for a $1 billion investment in its coke works in Clairton, including replacing two 50-year-old coke-producing units.

• $5 million for the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.

• $4.5 million to renovate the new Pittsburgh Opera headquarters complex in Pittsburgh's Strip District.

• $3.6 million for a soccer complex in Trafford, Westmoreland County.

• $2.5 million for a Steamfitters Local 449 expansion project in Pittsburgh.

• $1.5 million for the now-closed Laurel Mountain ski area, in a state park in Westmoreland County. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which owns the park, wants to determine if it's possible for an outside operator to run the ski area after the state improves the lifts, sewage treatment plant, lighting and other facilities.

Projects in other areas of the state include:

• $250 million for a new cargo airport near Hazelton in Luzerne County.

• $45 million for a new soccer stadium in Chester, south of Philadelphia.

• $37.5 million for a regional convention center in the Poconos.

• $25 million for a Centre County biofuels plant

• $15 million for a performing arts center in Lancaster County.

• $35 million for a baseball stadium in Lackawanna County.

And so on and so on, with hundreds more projects.

A conservative think tank in Harrisburg, the Commonwealth Foundation, criticized the Senate for approving the list of projects. Its news release carries the headline, "Pork-Barrel Projects Take Taxpayers to Slaughterhouse."

Capital-project money is borrowed through the sale of bonds and has to be repaid, with interest, over a 20- or 30-year period, burdening taxpayers for years into the future, critics complain.

"The so-called 'capital budget' is Harrisburg's version of the nefarious earmarking process in Washington, D.C.," said Matthew Brouillette, foundation president. "It's pork-barrel politics at its worst. It forces taxpayers to subsidize the bottom lines of professional sports teams, politically connected corporations and business ventures that can't find private financial support."

Such criticism also was voiced 10 years ago when the state ponied up millions of dollars for PNC Park and Heinz Field in Pittsburgh and for Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

But what looks like "pork" to some people looks like a necessity to others. Supporters of the new sports stadiums say they give Pennsylvania a national presence and image when professional baseball and football games are telecast from those cities.

Pittsburgh Opera officials are trying to raise $8 million to buy, renovate and maintain a Strip District building as their new headquarters and rehearsal space. The arts are an important economic generator for Pittsburgh, advocates argue.

"The opera doesn't go to the state [for capital funds] every year," said opera spokeswoman Ellen Sheppard. "This is an extraordinary opportunity."

The opera has to vacate its current headquarters in the Cultural District. The renovated building at 2425 Liberty Ave. will be much larger than its 801 Penn Ave. building.

Mr. Ardo said the criticism from the Commonwealth Foundation is predictable and misguided.

"The foundation opposes virtually all publicly funded projects on philosophical grounds, no matter their merit," he said. "The foundation's position may appeal to some rabid conservatives, but it wouldn't make good public policy."

He also noted the majority of the projects on the list won't ever get state money, which reduces the amount to be borrowed.

"Just because a legislator submits a project for consideration doesn't automatically mean that project will be funded," he said. "There's an infinite number of projects submitted by legislators, but a finite limit as to what can be spent."