Wolf renews call for drilling tax
The funding would enhance flood protection, rehabilitate blighted areas for development and expand broadband internet services across the state, Wolf said.
"
"Imposing additional energy taxes will cost consumers, hurt local jobs, especially among the building and labor trades, and negatively impact investment needed to safely produce clean and abundant energy that's ushering in a new era of manufacturing growth,"
Wolf noted even Republican-majority states that are more friendly to the drilling industry have a severance tax to fix infrastructure.
The
Wolf said he was "personally tired" of responding to disaster zones and saying "sorry" when infrastructure improvements, like flood walls, could have prevented them.
Rural parts of the state don't have internet, which negatively affects everything from GPS navigation to online doctor consultations, Wolf said.
The Democratic governor has long tried to implement a severance tax by proposing the fee as part of his annual budget.
This is a separate effort as part of a bill that will be sponsored by state Sen.
Yudichak said it's time for a "responsible, fair and common sense" severance tax.
He said there is bipartisan support for the bill.
"This is about the safety and security of the citizens of
Yudichak said the funds would be used to invest in infrastructure projects that normally take years to fund, like the
As an example of how infrastructure investments improve the economy, he noted the
State Rep.
"Not every state has that," he said.
He said the gas is the "people's resource" and all the people of the state should benefit.
The Republican controlled state legislature has blocked past efforts by Wolf to include a severance tax in his budget.
Yudichak thinks his bill, co-sponsored by
"That will be the challenge," Yudichak said.
Contact the writer:
570-821-2055, @cvbobkal
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