Additional Tax Could Stunt Job Growth in Pennsylvania

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The executive director of the Associated Petro­leum Industries of Pennsylvania, a division of the Amer­ican Petroleum Institute, is criticizing newly elected Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed budget plan for including an additional severance tax on natural gas development in the Keystone State. Stephanie Catarino Wissman asserts that an additional severance tax will harm job growth and weaken the state’s economy.

“The governor’s proposed tax hike could threaten the future of our state’s best job creators,” Wissman said. “The current local impact tax, which is collected from every shale drilling site in the state, has distributed more than $630 million to communities since 2012—including more than $224 million in just 2014. That’s on top of over $2.1 billion in state and local taxes already generated by our industry.”

As recorded by the state’s Department of Envi­ronmental Protection, Pennsylvania continues to shatter commonwealth records in natural gas production by producing more each year. In 2014, the commonwealth was among the top two states in the nation for natu­ral gas production with 4 Tcf of gas produced, a 30% increase over 2013’s record numbers.

“More growth means more jobs and more reve­nue. Higher taxes mean driving development away from Pennsylvania, costing jobs and the loss of revenue that can pay for education, transportation, healthcare, and other state programs,” said Wissman. “The governor should focus on choosing forward-looking, pro-energy policies that will continue to benefit the commonwealth and its citizens.”

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