Letter to the editor: Gov. Tom Wolf's tax plan will hurt consumers

Gov. Tom Wolf must enjoy Groundhog Day, as his latest plan, Restore Pennsylvania, is simply the same attempt to tax and borrow on the backs of citizens. Like Groundhog Day, Wolf’s plan is the same every year. The only difference is that every year he masks his attempt to tax the natural gas industry with some new, slick rhetoric.

The Restore Pennsylvania plan is simply the governor’s way of achieving a campaign promise to tax an industry that has delivered affordable prices for consumers, saved taxpayers money and provided economic growth for Pennsylvania. Additionally, the natural gas industry has paid nearly $1.5 billion in taxes already.

As Pennsylvania continues to make good use of our natural resources for both economic and security gains, the future of the industry may be impacted by yet another attempt by Wolf to accomplish a severance tax. Five years ago, he told us this tax would raise over $1 billion in Pennsylvania. The math simply did not support that rhetoric five years ago and today the governor’s message that a tax can “Restore Pennsylvania” must also be rejected. This tax will only hurt consumers and reverse Pennsylvania’s economic growth.

Randi Fowler Bick

Upper St. Clair