Will the PA Senate heed Rendell's call tomorrow?

While the House passed a severance tax bill on gas companies prior to their self-imposed October 1st deadline, the Senate failed to follow suit.  There are allegations the Senate let the clock run out in order to stall a decision until after the November 2nd election.  If the GOP gubernatorial candidate, Tom Corbett, wins the election, any such tax will likely be far, far lower than the one passed by the House.  Corbett is a proponent of the gas industry and is against taxing it at all.  The natural gas industry has donated nearly $400,000 to Corbett's campaign; they're hedging their bets, however and have also contributed $75,000 to the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Dan Onorato (see marcellusmoney.org/candidates for detailed info).

These donations are in keeping with the overall trend seen in the recent House vote on bill 1155.  According to MarcellusMoney.org, the natural gas industry's donations to those in the House who voted *against* the bill were 3.5 times more than those who voted for it.  While both parties have accepted donations from the industry, it's not a generalization in the least to say that Republican candidates overwhelmingly support the gas industry and are working hard to keep any such severance taxes exceedingly low--if not non-existent.

As Josh McNeil of Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania puts it, “It may not be in the interests of the gas industry, but a Marcellus Shale drilling tax is good for the Commonwealth, good for local communities, and good for the environment.  When legislators take thousands of dollars from the gas industry, then vote to let that industry take our resources for free, we have to wonder whose interests they’re really serving.”

So Rendell is calling for the Senate to meet during tomorrow's scheduled holiday, Columbus Day, to debate the severance tax issue.  What follows is an article by Angela Couloumbis as posted on Oct. 9, 2010 on Philly.com.  Click on the title to read the article in full on Philly.com or read the opening paragraphs below.


Rendell calls for meeting on the Monday holiday to speed natural-gas tax negotiations

HARRISBURG - Gov. Rendell is haranguing legislative leaders to return to work on Columbus Day and discover a route, at long last, to a tax on natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale.

At a news conference Friday, Rendell decried what he called a "preposterous" lack of substantive talks to establish a tax rate. He said he had organized a meeting for 1:30 p.m. Monday - a state holiday - with key legislators and industry representatives in the hope of reaching a deal.

"We made a promise to the people of Pennsylvania," he said, referring to his and legislators' midsummer vow to craft a natural gas tax by Oct. 1. "I intend to honor that promise."

But in a sign that such a tax may be delayed again, Republican leaders said they would gladly meet with the lame-duck Democratic governor Tuesday.

They also differed sharply with Rendell's framing of the issue, branding "absolutely untrue" his claim that they were stalling in hope of having a Republican governor by January.

For nearly two years, the natural-gas industry and its allies have staved off proposals to tax the wave of new drilling in the lucrative Marcellus formation. Over the summer, as part of negotiations on the annual budget, legislators promised to return to the Capitol this fall and enact a tax by Oct. 1.

Rendell said the House - where Democrats rule by a slim majority - held up its end with passage of a tax proposal last week. He said the GOP-controlled Senate had done nothing but "carp and criticize" in an apparent attempt to "run out the clock" in the hope that Republican Tom Corbett will be elected governor Nov. 2.

Corbett has said he is against imposing a tax on gas drilling.

"This is all B.S. right now," the governor said of the Senate's stance.  Continue to read the remainder of the article by clicking here.

House passes SB1155 to tax gas companies!

PennFuture Praises State House for Passage of Natural Gas Severance Tax That Helps Funds Growing Greener, Urges Senate to Consider Bill Immediately to Keep the Promise Made to the Citizens.

HARRISBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) today praised the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for its passage of SB 1155, a significant extraction tax on deep natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation that also funds Growing Greener, local governments impacted by drilling, wildlife management agencies, hazardous sites cleanup and county conservation districts, and the General Fund. The measure passed by a vote of 104 to 92. This action allows the tax to be considered by the State Senate before it adjourns for the year.

“This is a reasonable and robust tax”
“Thanks to heroic effort by Representative Kate Harper (R-Montgomery) insisting that SB 1155 include substantial revenue for Growing Greener, and the support of both Democratic and Republican House members, the House has kept its promise to the citizens to pass a bill by October 1,” said Jan Jarrett, PennFuture’s president and CEO. “Now it’s up to the Senate. We urge the Senate to act quickly, and preserve both the significant tax in this legislation and the money for Growing Greener, local communities and the other specified agencies.

“This is a reasonable and robust tax,” continued Jarrett. “It allows the drilling industry to flourish, while compensating the citizens for the use of the state’s natural resources. We have had daily reminders of the risks to our environment and local communities from drilling, so it is only fair that a portion of this new tax revenue go to environmental protection and local communities.

“Many of our elected officials, particularly Representatives Dave Levdansky (D-Washington, Allegheny) and Camille ‘Bud’ George (D-Clearfield), helped create the general framework in this bill, and it must be retained in the Senate,” said Jarrett.

“All eyes now turn to the Senate,” said Jarrett. “We call on the Senate to keep the robust tax on drilling in this bill and the split of this new revenue. Our environment, our communities, and our citizens depend on it.”

PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization that works to protect and promote Pennsylvania’s environment and economy. PennFuture’s activities include litigating cases before regulatory bodies and in local, state and federal courts, advocating and advancing legislative action on a state and federal level, public education, and assisting citizens in public advocacy. PennFuture was dubbed “the state’s leading environmental advocacy organization” by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Click HERE to view the original release as it appeared on Businesswire.