What Rendell Wants from a Natural Gas Tax

An AP story highlighting Gov. Rendell’s push for a natural gas tax comes with the misleading headline “Pa. gov wants gas industry to help shale towns.”

Nothing of the sort!  Gov. Rendell’s proposed tax wouldn’t go to “help shale towns.”  Rather it simply takes money from the gas drillers — who are investing in local communities and rebuilding local infrastructure — and bring it to Harrisburg so Gov. Rendell can dole out more pork.  Gov. Rendell would use 90% of the tax for the General Fund, counting on $70 million to balance this year’s budget.

In fact, contrast that to Dan Onorato’s ideas for how a severance tax should be spent.