The long-awaited bill for Gov. Tom Wolf’s Restore Pennsylvania infrastructure plan is finally here, and based on the number of co-sponsors alone, the Democratic governor is just a few votes shy of majority support for his plan to fund capital projects through a severance tax on natural gas. 

Despite almost having enough support to get the bill to his desk, members of Republican leadership remain staunchly opposed to the idea, with the Speaker of the House labeling the $4.5 billion proposal as an “irresponsible” job-killer. 

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale Tuesday released an audit of the Public Utility Commission’s oversight of Act 13 impact fee collections and noted corresponding findings demand a revision to the law to provide clarification on how the money can be spent and better oversight of how money is distributed and used.

Since its enactment in 2012, the impact fee has brought in around $856 million with $428 million of that split between counties and municipalities. DePasquale noted the performance audit his office recently concluded shows that local spending of the impact fee money is outside the intent of mitigating local impacts of natural gas drilling, some municipalities received overpayments, and changes to the law are needed to better support housing programs under Act 13.

Friday, the Independent Fiscal Office released its review of natural gas production from unconventional wells in Pennsylvania for the first half of 2016, noting the number of producing wells and the overall volume of natural gas production increased in the commonwealth during the first half of 2016 when compared to 2015 numbers.

However, the number of newly created wells dropped by almost 50 percent compared to the same period in 2015.

The Independent Fiscal Office Wednesday released an update on impact feel collections for calendar year 2015 and projected the remittances due April 2016 will come in at $185.5 million, which is $38 million lower than the previous year.

A group representing Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry and business concerns expressed their opposition to a severance tax on natural gas extracts today.

Before the General Assembly left for the Easter break, and in the intervening period, calls for a severance tax to ease budgetary pressures have grown as the June 30 budget deadline becomes closer.

Noting the industry has already paid $2.1 billion in state taxes since 2007 and $631 million under the Act 13 impact fee since 2012, Stephanie Wissman of the American Petroleum Institute (API) in Pennsylvania called proposals for an additional severance tax “irresponsible.”

“Make no mistake, these short-sighted tax schemes are based on politics, not economics,” Wissman said. “They will destroy job growth and stifle the type of capital investment that is helping our state to grow.”

READ MORE.