Representative Tarik Khan’s recent op-ed (We pay the gas bill; they keep the profit) evokes the old adage: a lie makes its way halfway around the world before the truth can get its pants on.
In an effort to raise taxes on Pennsylvania job creators and energy consumers, Rep. Khan conveniently overlooks key facts to spin a narrative that Pennsylvanians are not receiving their fair share from natural gas development in the state.
In typical politician fashion, Rep. Khan looks at Pennsylvania businesses as nothing more than an ATM, assigning a value based on how much money these businesses fork over to government to spend on pet projects. Overlooked in this assessment is the more than 123,000 Pennsylvania families who work in the industry, the $10 billion in utility savings for Pennsylvania ratepayers just last year, or the tremendous health benefits attributable to cleaner air thanks to natural gas use.
Rep. Khan fails to tell your readers that Pennsylvania already taxes natural gas through an impact tax. This unique tax allocates funding to local communities while also funding statewide infrastructure, clean water, land preservation and a host of other notable environmental grant programs.
In drawing comparisons to states like Texas, Rep. Khan also fails to look at the bigger business tax picture. Pennsylvania levies a corporate and personal income tax. Texas does not. Pennsylvania does not allow companies to recoup their capital investment before taxing natural gas; Texas does. And Pennsylvania taxes some wells that do not even produce natural gas; Texas does not.
Pennsylvanians rely on natural gas for 60% of their electricity, while over 6 million Pennsylvanians heat their home directly with natural gas. Imposing new taxes as proposed by Rep. Khan will do one thing: raise utility and home heating bills for Pennsylvania ratepayers, who are already struggling to make ends meet.
Say no to Rep. Khan’s tax increase on your utility bill.
