API-PA executive director, Rep. Turzai respond to Restore PA

API-PA, a division of the American Petroleum Institute, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) issued responses to Restore PA, Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fund infrastructure projects with a severance tax on the natural gas industry.

The $4.5 billion Restore PA initiative would fund development projects related to infrastructure, technology, storm preparedness, and other areas.

“This is the fifth time in five years Governor Wolf has proposed a severance tax that targets one industry through a counterproductive, punitive and anti-consumer policy,” API-PA Executive Director Stephanie Catarino Wissman said. “If enacted, this additional tax could discourage investments and risk the loss of revenues that have helped bolster the very communities and infrastructure in all 67 counties the proposal seeks to aid.”

Turzai also discussed the potential economic impacts of the proposal.

“We must be clear about what Restore PA really is: $6.5 billion of new debt to burden the next generation of Pennsylvanians,” Turzai said. “That is a low estimate of the full cost, with financing, of Gov. Wolf’s planned $4.5 billion bond issue. And the true cost could be even higher if interest rates rise, if severance tax revenue falters, or if Pennsylvania’s credit is downgraded.”

Turzai also highlighted an alternative introduced by House Republicans, Energize PA, which is a package of legislation designed to stimulate private sector infrastructure investment and other capital projects.

“Energize PA would require minimal public expenditure, rather than several billion dollars in debt spending,” Turzai said. “Most importantly, Energize PA would help unlock our state’s full industrial potential, stimulating potentially tens of billions of dollars in additional economic activity, and providing thousands of family-sustaining jobs in the construction and trades industries.”

Turzai noted that the natural gas impact fee has generated $1.7 billion in revenue since 2012 and that natural gas producers and landowners have also paid $5 billion in income tax since the Marcellus shale boom began.

“The proposed tax jeopardizes Pennsylvania’s economic strength and pits itself against the working families who rely on affordable American energy in every facet of their lives,” Wissman said. “Pennsylvania’s natural gas and oil industry works hard to help make access to energy and opportunity within reach for every woman and man in the commonwealth. The U.S. natural gas and oil industry is proving every day that environmental progress and economic growth are not mutually exclusive, investing billions in high-tech innovation, efficiency improvements, and ever-cleaner fuels, powering jobs and boosting revenues in communities across Pennsylvania. Our legislative policies must balance these existing gains and meeting record consumer energy demand.”