Here Comes a Job Killing Marcellus TAX
Lemoyne (2.6.12) – According to the Patriots News, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate is getting ready to ram through legislation in the Senate on a Marcellus "impact fee" as early as tonight.
This is a "fee" in name only; in reality it is a TAX on the one sector, except government, that is actually growing in the Commonwealth.
A memo obtained by Capitol Wire (subscription required) indicates that the proposal would allow counties to TAX drillers rather than impose a fee to offset the impact of drilling.
The new TAX would generate revenue based on the price of natural gas. Forty percent of the revenue would go into a Marcellus shale gas slush fund. The Commonwealth Foundation has a breakdown of where the funds are initially supposed to go on their website.
It is shameful that the only thing that certain members of the GOP have the will to accomplish is levy an additional TAX on an industry that has already paid more than $1.2 billion into state coffers. Rather than take steps to reduce the cost of government (for example, use actual market rates to set the labor costs paid by counties and municipalities, via reforms to "prevailing wage") our illustrious leaders just want to squeeze more out of businesses.
Our state already has the distinction of having the second highest corporate tax rate in the country. Now on top of that, our legislators are proposing an additional tax on the one sector that is driving the growth in the Commonwealth. Yet Leadership is completely unwilling or unable to address the terrible business climate the legislature has created, which has driven costs up and made Pennsylvania the eleventh worst state in the country to do business.
Be sure to let your legislators know that you do NOT support a Marcellus TAX and tell them what a responsible fee looks like.
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