PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE Column: It’s a question with huge implications for state budget negotiations next month and perhaps for the length of Gov. Tom Corbett’s tenure in the governor’s mansion: Will Corbett sign a bill bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars through a tax on natural gas drilling if the Republican-controlled Legislature sends him one?…
The smart money is on the Senate sending the House a Marcellus shale tax proposal, perhaps in obscure legislation that accompanies the state budget, such as the fiscal code that sets state tax rates. Will House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, an Allegheny County Republican who has espoused a philosophy of opposing business tax hikes and, in general, cutting state taxes, allow a vote on such a bill? For now, he won’t say…
But there’s bipartisan support for a shale tax. Some moderate GOP senators and House members (from the southeast in particular) think it’s ridiculous not to be taxing natural gas extraction. Combined with Democrats, the votes are likely there for passage. It’s an idea that’s been pending in the Legislature since 2008, when Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, touted it… (more)
