The bill that will be amended to include the subsidies is likely to be the unrelated House Bill 732, introduced by Rep. Chris Quinn (R-Delaware) to exempt “volunteer service providers – EMS, fire, and rescue companies – from the Pennsylvania realty transfer tax,” according to the co-sponsorship memo.
Last week, PLS Reporter revealed lawmakers were negotiating with Gov. Tom Wolf to resurrect the bill he vetoed but didn’t indicate how it might be done or how quickly it might happen.
In the article, Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin is reported to have signaled in February that Gov. Wolf’s veto threat wasn’t an expression of opposition to the substance of the bill.
The Associated Press also wrote about a potential deal on the legislation on Sunday.
“When elected officials go to the lengths of attaching a measure to another bill and then moving it quickly, it means they know exactly how unpopular a measure it is. In this case, the public’s opposition to House Bill 1100 was loud and clear and that was before the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19 made the thought of throwing billions at the shale gas industry unconscionable. Gov.Wolf should not have used his veto as a bargaining chip. We demand better of our legislators and governor,” said Karen Feridun, Co-founder of the Better Path Coalition, who started the MoveOn petition.
Lawmakers in northeastern Pennsylvania were among those eager to override Gov. Wolf’s veto of House Bill 1100.
In June, Cabot Oil and Gas’ External Affairs Director George Stark facilitated a meeting with Senators Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) and John Yudichak (I-Luzerne) and Gene Barr of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry to discuss the bill and the campaign to save it.
The shift from an override campaign to a negotiation with Gov. Wolf appears to have been concurrent with announcements from Attorney General Josh Shapiro regarding charges stemming from a Grand Jury investigation of fracking.
The Grand Jury has charged Cabot Oil and Gas, a would-be beneficiary of House Bill 1100, with nine felonies and six misdemeanors.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro also announced charges against Range Resources, already a beneficiary of the petrochemical boom in southwestern Pennsylvania, and a scathing report on the failures of the state government to protect the public from fracking, noted the Coalition.
"It is bad policy and bad economics to subsidize fracking development in PA,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. “Fracking is a failing industry that has burdened the public and our environment with incalculable costs. Just read the PA Attorney General’s newly published Report of the Forty-Third Statewide Investigating Grand Jury. We need a green economic recovery as we try to emerge from the COVID 19 pandemic, not more pollution and suffering. This fracking tax credit bill must be stopped!"
"This proposed millions of dollars in tax breaks and subsidies should not go to the polluting, boom/bust fossil fuel industry. Legislators should seek to fund a forward-looking vision, one that creates safe, high-paying, long-term, green jobs with industries that can provide a stable economy and a healthy, sustainable future for present and future generations of Pennsylvania citizens," Barb Jarmoska, treasurer, RDA/Keep It Wild.
For more information on this and other related issues, visit the Better Path Coalition website.
NewsClips:
AP-Marc Levy: Vetoed Petrochemical Tax Break Bill Revived In PA
PLS Reporter: Legislators, Wolf In Talks On Petrochemical Tax Credit Subsidy Compromise
PennFuture: Deal May Be Coming Together To Provide Taxpayer-Funded Subsidies For Natural Gas Use In Manufacturing
Spotlight PA: Damning Report On PA’s Failure To Protect Residents From Fracking Unlikely To Result In Major Reform
Don Hopey: Reaction Mixed To Grand Jury Findings On Shale Gas Industry
Forbes Column: PA’s Gas Producers Become A Political Football In New AG Report
Related Articles:
[Posted: July 13, 2020] PA Environment Digest
No comments :
Post a Comment