Scarnati: Dems Not Focusing on Safety, Environmental Issues in Regard to Shale
By ANNE HOLLIDAY
WESB/WBRR News Director
When Governor Ed Rendell declared the Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction tax “clearly dead” on Thursday, he blamed Republicans and said they were not negotiating in good faith.
"It is irresponsible for Senate and House Republicans to refuse to compromise and simply turn their backs on these negotiations after days and weeks and months of work,” Rendell said in a news release.
But Senate President Joe Scarnati told WESB and The HERO on Friday that Rendell’s unilateral declaration that the tax issue is dead is “not how you negotiate. … He says we (Republicans) are not negotiating in good faith because we won’t move to his high tax.”
“When he’s looking at a tax that’s the highest in the nation, and we’re looking at a rate that promotes the industry, it’s pretty hard to come together,” Scarnati said.
Lawmakers had promised to have a tax bill in place by October 1, with the tax collection starting in January. Without the bill, the state is looking at a $70 million hole in the budget.
"Their clear unwillingness to change their previous proposal or to resolve differences with the House Democrats and with my administration makes it obvious that they have killed the severance tax in this legislative session,” Rendell said in the release. “It is a broken promise, as well as a misguided policy decision that will harm our environment, will leave our local governments without the financial wherewithal to deal with the impacts of drilling in their communities, and will increase the budget challenges that Pennsylvania will face in the years to come.”
But Scarnati told WESB and The HERO that Democrats, including Rendell, are so focused on the tax that they are not considering other issues like “… local zoning … safety – which the governor seems to forget about – environmental issues …, certainly environmental issues, and how much goes back to the municipality that has the impact from the drilling …”
“It’s extremely frustrating that the governor is focusing on the tax,” Scarnati said.
Scarnati explained that the House passed a bill that includes a tax that’s “twice as high as any other (extraction) tax in the country,” adding that negotiating is difficult when the Democrats’ goal “is to run the industry out of the state, and our goal is to have them not move their rigs out of here.”
Rendell “is the governor of Pennsylvania, not the dictator, and all his terms are not going to be met based on his conditions,” Scarnati said. “We have been very firm in the Senate. …Taxing this industry out of the state is not appropriate. … We’re willing to work toward a fair, equitable levy on this industry, but it can’t be one that drives them out of the state.”
Rendell is proposing a phased-in tax of 3 percent in the first year; 4 percent in the second; and 5 percent in the third. The Senate Republicans want a 1.5 percent tax rate, and they want the environmental and safety issues to be addressed.
“This isn’t about solving the budget deficit as the governor wants to do,” Scarnati said. “This is about enhancing an industry to make sure they stay and produce jobs.”
Scarnati said he’s looking forward to working with Republican Tom Corbett on the issue, should Corbett be elected governor.
Corbett is opposed to an extraction tax, saying it could stunt the growth of an industry he believes is a cornerstone of Pennsylvania’s economic recovery and could create hundreds of thousands of jobs. He also says tax money will be realized through the investments the industry makes in the state. He is, however, in favor of drilling companies helping municipalities with costs related to drilling.
Corbett’s opponent, Democrat Dan Onorato, is in favor of the extraction tax.
WESB/WBRR News Director
When Governor Ed Rendell declared the Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction tax “clearly dead” on Thursday, he blamed Republicans and said they were not negotiating in good faith.
"It is irresponsible for Senate and House Republicans to refuse to compromise and simply turn their backs on these negotiations after days and weeks and months of work,” Rendell said in a news release.
But Senate President Joe Scarnati told WESB and The HERO on Friday that Rendell’s unilateral declaration that the tax issue is dead is “not how you negotiate. … He says we (Republicans) are not negotiating in good faith because we won’t move to his high tax.”
“When he’s looking at a tax that’s the highest in the nation, and we’re looking at a rate that promotes the industry, it’s pretty hard to come together,” Scarnati said.
Lawmakers had promised to have a tax bill in place by October 1, with the tax collection starting in January. Without the bill, the state is looking at a $70 million hole in the budget.
"Their clear unwillingness to change their previous proposal or to resolve differences with the House Democrats and with my administration makes it obvious that they have killed the severance tax in this legislative session,” Rendell said in the release. “It is a broken promise, as well as a misguided policy decision that will harm our environment, will leave our local governments without the financial wherewithal to deal with the impacts of drilling in their communities, and will increase the budget challenges that Pennsylvania will face in the years to come.”
But Scarnati told WESB and The HERO that Democrats, including Rendell, are so focused on the tax that they are not considering other issues like “… local zoning … safety – which the governor seems to forget about – environmental issues …, certainly environmental issues, and how much goes back to the municipality that has the impact from the drilling …”
“It’s extremely frustrating that the governor is focusing on the tax,” Scarnati said.
Scarnati explained that the House passed a bill that includes a tax that’s “twice as high as any other (extraction) tax in the country,” adding that negotiating is difficult when the Democrats’ goal “is to run the industry out of the state, and our goal is to have them not move their rigs out of here.”
Rendell “is the governor of Pennsylvania, not the dictator, and all his terms are not going to be met based on his conditions,” Scarnati said. “We have been very firm in the Senate. …Taxing this industry out of the state is not appropriate. … We’re willing to work toward a fair, equitable levy on this industry, but it can’t be one that drives them out of the state.”
Rendell is proposing a phased-in tax of 3 percent in the first year; 4 percent in the second; and 5 percent in the third. The Senate Republicans want a 1.5 percent tax rate, and they want the environmental and safety issues to be addressed.
“This isn’t about solving the budget deficit as the governor wants to do,” Scarnati said. “This is about enhancing an industry to make sure they stay and produce jobs.”
Scarnati said he’s looking forward to working with Republican Tom Corbett on the issue, should Corbett be elected governor.
Corbett is opposed to an extraction tax, saying it could stunt the growth of an industry he believes is a cornerstone of Pennsylvania’s economic recovery and could create hundreds of thousands of jobs. He also says tax money will be realized through the investments the industry makes in the state. He is, however, in favor of drilling companies helping municipalities with costs related to drilling.
Corbett’s opponent, Democrat Dan Onorato, is in favor of the extraction tax.
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