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Aug 2, 2019 2 min read

In 2012 Republican governor Tom Corbett and a Republican majority in the House and Senate voted to impose a tax on the gas industry referred to as an impact fee, where gas companies are required to pay the fee for each well that they drill. This tax was levied for a period of ten years and will expire in a few years. Democrat Tom Wolf and a great number of members of the House and Senate who are also Democrats want to pass legislation to replace the impact fee. It is referred to as an extraction tax, which is based on how much gas a well produces.

The governor’s plan is referred to as Restore Pennsylvania. What does the governor want to spend the money on? 

He wants to mitigate flooding, expand broadband, address blight, funding of the planks of the Green New Deal, transportation projects and business development.

Question?

How much money does the governor want to spend on Restore Pennsylvania? Answer: $4.5 billion over four years, according to an NPR article.

The extraction fee is expected to bring in to the state around $300 million a year. How will the governor pull that one off.

Simple, spend now pay later. Also, according to an NPR article, Tom Wolf wants to issue bonds totaling $4.5 billion now and spend that amount over a four year period. Payback by the state will be $300 million a year for twenty years with the total bond indebtedness now at almost $6 billion. Lets do the math for the governor. Restore Pennsylvania which is a state government boondoggle receives $ 4.5 billion of money extorted from the gas companies and the bond holders receive $ 1.5 Billion of money extorted from the gas companies. Our governor is attempting through legislation to obtain money through an unfavorable government action which anyway you say it is extortion which is a felony in all states. To tax or not to tax?

How many Republicans will cross the aisle and vote with the Democrats? We the people of Pennsylvania are waiting. The next move is yours.

Ed Zadylak

Connellsville