Act 13 of 2012 Feb 14 2012 HB 1950 Marcellus Shale Impact Tax/Fee

The Liberty Index scores Act 13 of 2012 Tier 3 (Major Impact on Liberty) AGAINST LIBERTY and AGAINST THE FORGOTTEN TAXPAYER because the misnamed Impact Fee is, in reality, a tax. A real Impact Fee would be segregated in a fund to compensate people for damage from externalities of Marcellus Shale drilling. This phony fee does not do that but redistributes profits without regard to merit.

One would think that if natural gas were discovered in your backyard, you would be thrilled. The 254 elected, with support from many of the electorate. Instead we tax it? Pennsylvanias number one job creator. And we tax it more? Lower energy costs mean a higher standard of living, more production of more goods and services for more people. And we tax it more? Laura Olson Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau gives a good overview of the impact of the Act 13 of 2012 phony Impact Fee legislation will be. Act 13 facts. The money generated is not based on any real world damage or impact but on a formula unrelated to impact. And see also, Shale law Act 13 means new money, more regulations April 15, 2012 By Laura Olson Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

As it turns out, The Marcellus Shale Impact Fee is redistributed by number of wells, yet Philadelphia County and Bucks County, both of which have moratoriums (Act 87 of 2012
for Bucks County) get millions despite hostility to Marcellus Shale drilling

Bucks: $530,461.69 Chester: $423,255.23 Delaware: $474,238.17 Montgomery: $678,613.66 Philadelphia: $1,294,664.55 Impact Fee Revenue Will Boost Conservation Efforts, MontCo Kate Harper Says Pennsylvanias five southeastern counties will receive more than $3.4 million in revenue from the collection of an impact fee on natural gas drilling activities in the Marcellus Shale, said Rep. Kate Harper (R-Montgomery).The funding awarded directly to the counties is just a small portion of the nearly $200 million in impact fees collected so far this year. Additional revenue is dedicated to municipalities where drilling is taking place; to state agencies for the regulation of drilling activities and administration of the impact fee law; and to environmental initiatives, such as the Environmental Stewardship Fund, Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund and county conservation districts. READ MORE Rep Kate Harper email update The Commonwealth Foundation provides an analysis with recommendations for a real impact fee, not a phony political impact fee. READ MORE For More Information see Energy In Depth and Marcellus Shale Coalition

No one has died, or even been sickened, by natural gas drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and horizontal drilling. In fact, more people have been hit by lightening and more here than by Marcellus Shale drilling. Tier 3 Against Liberty A YEA vote deducts 50 points from grade. *

14 of 2012

Act 16 of 2012 Feb SB 1237 Keystone Opportunity Zone for Shell Cracker Facility

The Liberty Index scores Act 16 of 2012 Tier 3 (Major Impact on Liberty) AGAINST LIBERTY and AGAINST THE FORGOTTEN TAXPAYER because it is gives a special tax subsidy to one specific business, in effect, a tax cut for one business not available to other productive businesses. Senate Bill 1237 (Act 16) adds a new Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZ), tax free areas designed to promote economic development; FISCAL NOTE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS describes Act in detail . SB 1237 appears to be special legislation to benefit one company and one project. Is Corporate Welfare for Shell Cracker Good for PA? Commonwealth Foundation March 19, 2012 by Elizabeth Stelle Astute readers may remember that last month Pennsylvania earned the dubious distinction of the highest taxes for mature businesses and the second highest taxes for new businesses. So how did Pennsylvania just beat out Ohio and West Virginia for the Shell Oil Co. cracker plant that is estimated to create more than 10,000 construction and 10,000 permanent jobs? The Post Gazette has the answer, "Gov. Tom Corbett and his closest advisers spent months wooing the company." In other words, corporate welfare. Pennsylvania's corporate taxes are so awful that the Corbett administration had to wine and dine company officials and hand over special tax exemptions and subsidies to seal the deal. The concept of Keystone Opportunity Zones is that lower taxes promote productive growth. KOZs are problematic in that it is difficult to measure whether the intended purpose has been achieved by targeted tax subsidy and if tax cut

promotes jobs and an increased standard of living, why not tax cuts for all and let a decentralized, diversified and independent individual human actors in the Free Market make the decisions rather than a few Statist Elitist Technocratic by the numbers Reality Based Central Planners. Tier 3 Against Liberty A YEA vote deducts 50 points from grade.
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ACT 85 of 2012 July 2 2012 HB 761 Tax Reform Code of 1971 contains both EITC and the Shell Cracker Tax Credit and Subsidy. The Liberty Index scores Act 122 of 2012 Tier 3 (Major Impact on Liberty) AGAINST LIBERTY and AGAINST THE FORGOTTEN TAXPAYER because this omnibus bill falls far short of what is needed to grow Pennsylvanias productive economy. Like Act 25 of 2011 which gave the appearance of being taxpayer friendly, Act 85 of 2012 misdirects and does little to effect hoped for results. For example, although Act 85 of 2012 doubles the Education Improvement Tax Credit to $150,000,000 this is an infinitesimal percentage of the more than $26,000,000,000spent by the unionized, government K-12 system. Omnibus Bills are a Mixed Bag Three Card Monte good mixed with bag to swindle The Forgotten Taxpayer.

Tier 3 Against Liberty A YEA vote deducts 50 points from grade. *

Act 87 of 2012 July 2 SB 1263 Fiscal Code Marcellus Shale drilling moratorium BucksCo and Harrisburg Bond Bailout FISCAL NOTE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS bans drilling for natural gas in Bucks County and bails out Harrisburg Bond Holders. Single Subject Rule Violated. The Liberty Index scores Act 87 of 2012 Tier 3 (Major Impact on Liberty) AGAINST LIBERTY and AGAINST THE FORGOTTEN TAXPAYER because of several special, target provisions that impact commerce despite statements that there is no fiscal impact. Omnibus Bills are difficult to score because of their complexity and because seemingly minor and innocuous provisions are hidden, stealth special and targeted legislation to benefit a particular narrow interest. 1) Act 87 of 2012 is an Omnibus Bill which seems to violate the Pennsylvania Constitutions Single Subject Rule Article III The Legislature Form of Bills Section 3 No bill shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, except a general appropriation bill or a bill codifying or compiling the law or a part thereof. 2) Natural Gas Drilling banned in BucksCo PennLive 9 September 2012 Politicians are focused intently on the natural gas potential in a strata of rock stretching from Nockamixon State Park in Bucks County to Gettysburg. In the waning late-night hours of this years passage of the state budget, Pennsylvania Republicans inserted an addition to the states fiscal code: a

moratorium on natural gas drilling and a geological study of something called the South Newark Basin. Anti-drilling activists choked on their coffee the next morning. For at least three years, the phrase drilling moratorium has been political profanity among Republicans who control both chambers of the Legislature and the Governors Residence The only thing more shocking than a Republican-sponsored drilling moratorium was where it was located: suburban Philadelphia, far outside the gas-rich Marcellus Shale. A week or so earlier, the U.S. Geological Survey had issued a report that estimated that 363 billion cubic feet of natural gas might lie in a geologic formation called the South Newark Basin, which underlies portions of southern New Jersey and Bucks, Montgomery and Berks counties in southeastern Pennsylvania. To put things in perspective, thats less than half of 1 percent of all the gas the USGS estimates to be in the Marcellus Shale. http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/09/is_there_natural_gas_und er_the.html#incart_river_default Oil and Gas Operations in the South Newark Basin prohibits the Department of Environmental Protection from issuing any oil and gas well operations permits within the geographic boundaries of the South Newark Basin until all the following occurs: a study is completed by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, in consultation with municipalities located in the South Newark Basin, evaluating the practical resource recovery implications of the June 2012 report issued by the United States Geological Survey and the fiscal impact of oil and gas operations on the South Newark Basin, and legislation authorizes the governing body of a county situated in whole or in part within the South Newark Basin that has spud gas well located within its borders to elect whether to impose a fee on gas wells pursuant to 58 Pa.C.S. Ch. 23. 3) Harrisburg Bond Holder Bail Out of Financially Distressed Municipalities extends the expiration of this Article preventing third class cities, meaning

the bankrupt City of Harrisburg, from filing for bankruptcy from July 1, 2012, to November 30, 2012. No adverse impact on Commonwealth funds

Tier 3 Against Liberty A YEA vote deducts 50 points from grade.

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