The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

November 20, 2009

Sestak: Tax drillers instead of I-80 drivers

By Matt Snyder

MERCER COUNTY — Tolling Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania is technically a state issue, but that hasn’t stopped it from spilling into the talking points of federal politicians, including 3rd District congress members, past and present.

Add to that list U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, a southeastern Pennsylvanian who will run against Sen. Arlen Specter for the Democratic nod in next spring’s primary.

Sestak spokesman Jonathan Dworkin said his boss isn’t opposed outright to tolling, but he has come up with another option.

“Before we put that burden on the average guy that’s driving down I-80, we should look for other sources of revenue, like giving a reasonable tax for the oil companies on the Marcellus Shale,” Dworkin said.

Sestak wants to resurrect plans to tax companies drilling for natural gas in the Commonwealth’s Marcellus Shale, using the taxes partly to offset any environmental impacts from that drilling and partly to fill the funding gap if I-80 is never tolled – something that’s a possibility since the state has yet to win the necessary approval from federal authorities.

The state plan aims to raise $60 billion over 50 years to fix roads and bridges across the state through tolls on I-80.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission would be responsible for tolling I-80 and this month resubmitted its application to the Federal Highway Administration after the FHA rejected it in September 2008.

How much revenue a tax on natural gas companies would generate depends on the tax rate, said Dworkin.

Numbers Dworkin released show that a 5 percent to 10 percent tax could produce from $107 million to $325 million. By 2014, Sestak’s numbers predict the tax could generate between $632 million and $1.9 billion.

Part of that tax would go toward environmental protection, so it’s hard to predict how much the plan could help the state’s roads and bridges, Dworkin said.

The natural gas tax idea was kicked around during state budget negotiations, said Sestak’s news release.

Sestak is serving his second term. A former three-star admiral and Clinton-era director of defense policy, he holds a doctorate in political economy and government.

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