Former Gov. Tom Ridge told the Allentown Morning Call this week Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett should support a Marcellus Shale natural gas severance tax and not violate his pledge to not raise taxes.
"I've got to say that, if the dollars were going to a specific cause — enforcement, regulation, support [for] local communities, counties — I personally don't think the public would view that as going back on his pledge," Gov. Ridge told the Morning Call. "It wouldn't affect them, it would socialize the benefit of these companies' presence. But I have to let Tom make that decision — if he wins, and I think he will."
"Nobody ought to view it (severance tax) as a long-term answer to Pennsylvania's fiscal problems, because it's not," he said. "But the bottom line is that the industry has paid taxes at various levels. And if it was the right balance between taxes and where the money was going, I suspect they could have cut a deal.
"I do think [state taxpayers] will distinguish between their personal tax rates going up and a broader tax on an industry," Gov. Ridge said, provided the money raised from the industry was put toward regulation and toward wear and tear of roads and other infrastructure.
"But that's my view of what Pennsylvanians would think, that's not my view of what Tom would think," Gov. Ridge said. "I want to make that very clear."
NewsClips: Ridge Expects A Marcellus Shale Tax
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