Governor visits Bridgeville to explain new severance tax proposal
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Gov. Tom Wolf
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Workers remove a tap system from Railyard Grill & Tap Room in Bridgeville following the flood of June 20. The Railroad Street business since has reopened.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Baldwin Street in Bridgeville was closed after heavy flooding on June 20.
A severance tax on natural gas and oil production in Pennsylvania that would generate an estimated $4.5 billion in the next 20 years could have enough support for legislative enactment, according to Gov. Tom Wolf.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Gov. Tom Wolf emphasizes a point during his “Restore Pennsylvania” presentation at the Bridgeville Borough Building.
“The votes are there,” he asserted during his Feb. 28 visit to one of the local municipalities that was hit hardest by flooding in the region on June 20.
Speaking at the Bridgeville Borough Building, Wolf explained that money raised through the tax would go into a fund – an accompanying press release refers to it as Restore Pennsylvania – to assist communities in addressing issues such as disaster relief and infrastructure improvements.
“All across Pennsylvania last year, it seemed like I spent more time touring flood-ravaged areas,” the governor said. “It was the same problem. Lives were really being devastated, property being damaged, homes destroyed. And I felt in many ways like I was at a funeral, because you’d go up and say, ‘I’m really sorry for your loss. But there’s really nothing I can do.'”
A major stumbling block, he said, has to do with the amount of damage a geographical area sustains before it qualifies for Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief:
“Because the storms last year were so localized, we couldn’t really get to that threshold in an easy way.”
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Bridgeville Mayor Betty Copeland listens to Gov. Tom Wolf.
Wolf has called for a severance tax periodically since taking office in 2015, and his latest attempt is not tied to the 2019-20 state budget. As such, the Legislature would vote on the measure independent of any other action.
“All across Pennsylvania last year, it seemed like I spent more time touring flood-ravaged areas,” the governor said. “It was the same problem. Lives were really being devastated, property being damaged, homes destroyed. And I felt in many ways like I was at a funeral, because you’d go up and say, ‘I’m really sorry for your loss. But there’s really nothing I can do.'”
A major stumbling block, he said, has to do with the amount of damage a geographical area sustains before it qualifies for Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief:
“Because the storms last year were so localized, we couldn’t really get to that threshold in an easy way.”
Wolf has called for a severance tax periodically since taking office in 2015, and his latest attempt is not tied to the 2019-20 state budget. As such, the Legislature would vote on the measure independent of any other action.