PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW: Proposals to tax or impose fees on Marcellus shale drillers are on a potential collision course with Gov. Tom Corbett, as fellow Republicans controlling the House and Senate attempt to break an eight-year cycle of late budgets.
Chief among them is a proposal from the Senate’s top Republican leader, which a Senate environmental committee amended and approved on Tuesday, setting it up for a floor vote over the next two weeks.
Key lawmakers warn that legislation to tax drillers will become entangled with budget-related bills as they attempt to pass an on-time budget by June 30. Waiting until Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission makes its report on July 22 — as the governor wants to do — would effectively put the impact fee issue off until fall because the General Assembly will be on summer recess… (more)
