FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
State Rep. Mike Hanna D-Clinton/Centre www.pahouse.com/Hanna

Hanna introduces bill to impose fair impact fee on Marcellus gas drillers

HARRISBURG, May 25 – State Rep. Mike Hanna introduced a bill today that would impose a real and fair statewide impact fee on natural gas drillers in the Marcellus Shale, rather than the “embarrassingly low” fee recently signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett.

Hanna said his bill, H.B. 2413 – part of the House Democrats’ Marcellus Compact legislative package – would fix the Corbett Marcellus Shale law, known as Act 13 of 2012, by providing real tax fairness to Pennsylvanians through a fair and reasonable statewide fee for drilling companies.

"The Corbett Marcellus Shale law fails to ensure that huge, out-of-state drilling companies pay their fair share," said Hanna, D-Clinton/Centre. "Pennsylvania workers, families and seniors already pay more than their fair share of taxes. It’s time we start making big corporations pull their own weight."

Act 13 created a county-optional impact fee that is among the lowest in the nation and would only be imposed for the first 15 years the well is producing gas. Hanna’s bill imposes a higher fee that would begin when the well starts producing gas and would remain in effect for the well’s entire producing life.

The annual fee would be dependent upon the price of gas during production, but the base fee would begin at $75,000 per well and would decrease $5,000 annually until Year 14. In the 14^th year, and going forward, the fee would remain at $10,000 per well for the duration of production.

"This legislation is necessary to ensure the big oil and gas industry properly supports Pennsylvania by paying its fair share of taxes," Hanna said. "Under Act 13, huge oil and gas corporations – such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell and BP – will pay an embarrassingly low fee that is less than half the effective tax rate as working Pennsylvanians pay in state personal income taxes."

Hanna noted that Pennsylvanians pay 3.07 percent of their wages in state personal income tax; yet under Act 13, oil and gas corporations will pay an effective tax rate of as little as 1 percent of the value of the gas they extract from Pennsylvania wells – one of the lowest tax rates on drillers in the nation. 

The Marcellus Compact is a six-bill legislative package that fixes the flawed, industry-friendly Corbett Marcellus Shale law. The Marcellus Compact is a promise by House Democrats to put the interests of Pennsylvania taxpayers, workers and families first – unlike Act 13, which Hanna called a “sweetheart deal for the multi-billion-dollar oil and gas industry.”

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