Taxes & Economy
Severance Tax at Odds with State Constitution
Earlier this week, Nate Benefield blogged on the unconstitutional process of the House-passed natural gas severance tax bill (SB 1155). This bill did not originate in the House,…
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Fact Check: Severance Tax Proposal Would be Highest in US
SB 1155 would impose a severance tax rate of 39 cents per MCF. At the August estimated average wellhead price of $4.22 per MCF, this is an effective…
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Why Do We Need a Severance Tax?
Proponents of a natural gas severance tax have been offering several arguments supporting a tax, here are the three main talking points used by tax advocates: 1) Higher taxes will…
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State to CF: Transparency Denied
A couple months ago, we requested the salary information of state employees for our new openPAgov database (if you missed the launch, we currently have Pennsylvania school district…
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Marcellus Money Yields $88 Million Gift to Penn State
The Post-Gazette reports that Terry Pegula, who recently sold his company that was drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, donated $88 million to Penn State University to…
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PennEnvironment: Weather is Climate Again
So PennEnvironment yesterday comes out with a new propaganda piece to capitalize on what they call last winter’s “Snowmageddon,” which is designed to get…
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Energy 101
Pennsylvania has always been a leading provider of America's energy. From timber and coal to the nation's first commercial oil well, and now the Marcellus Shale boom, traditional energy is…
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Insurance Hypocrisy
I saw a commercial during an episode of Jeopardy from the Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority. It warns people against trying to buy car insurance after an accident…
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SEPTA’s Extravagant Spending
Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee heard testimony from SEPTA officials defending their lavish spending habits during a state transportation funding crisis. Senator Rafferty expressed concern, saying:…
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