State Representative Jim Struzzi says Governor Tom Wolf’s annual request for a severance tax on natural gas is “getting to be like Groundhog Day,” so he’s telling the governor “enough is enough.” Wolf last Thursday called for a severance tax on gas producers as he listed his priorities for 2021.
Struzzi said in a statement yesterday, “The natural gas industry already pays a Marcellus Shale tax that was originally and mistakenly labeled an impact ‘fee’” by (his) legislative predecessors.” He says the tax pays for municipalities and to a lesser degree, counties, even those where there are no wells. He says the prospect of allowing state government to determine the definition of “fair share” should make anyone shudder.
Struzzi says another new tax on energy consumers, which would filter down from the producers, is one of the last things taxpayers need.
He has introduced another bill aimed at stopping Pennsylvania from joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, another Wolf priority. Struzzi says adding a severance tax on top of RGGI would be like “treating Pennsylvanians like a blank check or credit card with no limit.”
Governor Wolf is scheduled to make his annual budget address, with the seventh severance tax demand in seven years, today in Harrisburg.
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