Oct 17, 2015 2 min read

This week, Gov. Tom Wolf visited Washington County to drum up support for his tax plan. As usual, he advocated heavily for his supposed “severance tax for education,” but left out some very important facts that would be detrimental to his arguments.

Wolf’s latest severance tax proposal would be equal to a 14.7 percent tax on the natural gas industry, the largest tax of its kind in the nation. It is not even in the realm of the reasonable, especially when combined with the second-highest corporate net income tax rate in the country.

The Marcellus Shale industry has become a big part of our local economy, providing good-paying jobs to our families and neighbors, and millions in local tax dollars. His outrageous proposal kicks this important industry in the teeth, at a time when it is already laying off workers.

And even more troubling, the governor continues to mislead the public about his intentions for the severance tax revenue. After months of touting $1 billion for education, the reality is his proposal would generate less than $100 million, and none of it is earmarked for education. His plan would take money from this job-supporting industry to fund handouts for wind and solar companies.

We will not resolve this politically motivated budget impasse until the governor decides to be transparent about his proposal, which takes 95 percent of all new tax revenue from middle-class Pennsylvanians and small businesses, not “big oil and gas.”

The state’s budget woes are rooted in overspending. Instead of trying to tax our way to prosperity, we should focus on cutting waste, fraud and abuse, and making Pennsylvania a world energy leader.

Jim Christiana

Jason Ortitay

Harrisburg

Christiana represents the 15th Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Ortitay represents the 46th Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.