Pa. lawmakers wait as leaders negotiate funding budget

State senators from Delaware County said Tuesday budget discussions among their leaders continue while elected and industry officials debate the optimum way to fund this year’s financial package.

The $32 billion spending package became law after it was passed by the House and Senate and not vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf. However, there is no mechanism yet in the budget to outline how those billions will be raised.

Senators said leaders were working on that Tuesday.

“The leaders of both chambers are in negotiations today and have also been meeting with administration,” state Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown, said. “The governor has insisted on a certain level of recurring revenue. The leaders are working with members of the General Assembly to find the best way to fund the compromise budget that the governor agreed to in June.”

State Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-26 of Springfield, had similar news, confirming that the GOP leadership from both the House and the Senate met Tuesday morning.

“I think they’re just trying to come up with some recurring revenue that will be ok with the governor,” he said, adding that legislators are on a six-hour callback.

He said some of the measures being considered to fund the budget are Internet gaming and changes to liquor provisions.

At this time, McGarrigle said, a shale tax is not being evaluated.

Both he and Killion are supporters of a shale tax.

“I continue to advocate for a severance tax as one possibility to help finish the process and address the concerns expressed by the rating agencies,” Killion said.

On Tuesday, a representative from the natural gas industry also sent a letter to state House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-28 of Allegheny County, and other GOP leaders.

In it, David J. Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, wrote that drillers already pay an impact fee, which was enacted in 2012 and has generated more than $1.2 billion.

“While despised by those who have an insatiable appetite for government spending, the fact remains that the impact fee is a national model for success, as states whose budgets have depended on severance tax revenues have suffered when commodity prices have crashed, as they have over the last two years,” Spigelmyer wrote.

He warned that more restrictions on the industry here could drive business elsewhere, such as the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico.

Some of the industry challenges in Pennsylvania are an uncompetitive tax climate, a burdensome regulatory structure and $4 billion of investments being delayed because of well permit backlogs, Spigelmyer said.

“Politically expedient policies that harm job creators, small business and consumers of natural gas are the problem, not the answer to an economically robust commonwealth,” he said, adding that policies need to be created that help and encourage the business.

Those who support the shale tax contend it could provide sustainable income that could address Pennsylvania’s billion-dollar budget deficit.