$200 Million Lost to Legislative Inaction on Drilling Tax
July 14, 2011
By Friday, Pennsylvania will have lost $200 million from legislative inaction on a Marcellus Shale drilling tax — revenue that could have prevented state cuts to schools, colleges and health services for the state’s most vulnerable.
The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center is tracking in real-time how much drilling tax revenue has been lost since October 1, 2009 by not having a tax in place. The ticker will hit $200 million mid-afternoon on Friday, July 15. View the Drilling Tax Ticker here.
“Lawmakers have allowed drillers to avoid a tax that they pay everywhere else, and middle-class families are paying the price,” said Sharon Ward, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. “$200 million could have kept more teachers in the classroom, college tuition more affordable and prevented a hike in property taxes.”
Across the country, 98% of natural gas is produced in states that have drilling taxes or fees. In many energy-producing states, that revenue supports critical services like education and health care, as well as environmental protection and the local impacts of drilling.
Pennsylvania is the largest mineral-rich state in the nation without a drilling tax or fee of any kind. All 11 states with more gas production than Pennsylvania have a tax or fee. Unlike those states, Pennsylvania is giving away a one-time resource.
The $200 million in lost revenue could have helped prevent budget cuts that will increase the cost of child care for many working parents, strain child protective services, reduce access to full-day kindergarten, and place limits on care for seniors and people with disabilities.
Read PBPC's full press release on lost drilling tax revenue hitting the $200 million mark.
