Good Wednesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
If there's one thing we know about Gov. Tom Wolf, it's that the York County Democrat has been frustrated in his four-year effort to impose a severance tax on natural gas drillers.
And if there's one thing we know about newly minted Republican gubernatorial nominee Scott Wagner, it's that he opposes it.
The severance tax debate, until now, has been an intensely localized one, with industry and business leaders arguing that an extraction tax would be a job-killer that would chase drillers out of Pennsylvania and into states with friendlier tax structures.
This week, Wagner, a York County state senator, ladled a bit of national drama on top of the state-level argument, arguing that a severance tax would undo the good done by the Trump tax cuts by pushing up consumers' utility bills.
"While President Trump is lowering utility bills for Pennsylvanians, Wolf wants to raise them," Wagner's campaign wrote in an email blast to supporters this week.
The new angle of attack come in response to a vote last week by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission ordering a $320 million rate reduction, effective July 1, for most of the state's electric, gas and water carriers, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The cut is supposed to reflect the lower federal tax rate that went into effect this year.
"For Pennsylvania electric utilities, the rate cuts will range from a reduction of 0.6 percent for customers of PPL Electric Utilities to 8.6 percent for customers of Metropolitan Edison Co," the newspaper reported.
At a press conference earlier this spring where he rolled out the newest version of the tax, Wolf argued that in-state consumers wouldn't see their utility bills spike because of a severance tax. Rather, the cost would be passed along to consumers in other states where the gas is shipped. The new version of the tax would raise about $250 million in its first year. The impact fee would stay.
In each of his four budget addresses, Wolf has asked lawmakers to enact a severance tax on drillers, pointing out that Pennsylvania is the only gas-producing state that doesn't have such a levy.
The state does, however, impose an impact fee on drillers to help cover the public infrastructure cost of the industry. It raises something to to the tune of about $250 million or so a year.
The difference, of course, is that the fee is imposed on each well-head, while the extraction tax is levied against the gas that actually comes out of the ground. Wolf came tantalizingly close to getting a tax in a budget-funding revenue package approved by the Republican-controlled Senate last year.
As he did in his 2014 bid, Wolf has made enacting a severance tax one of the cornerstones of his re-election campaign, even airing ads touting the benefits of the tax. He's been dinged, by critics, however, for papering over the impact fee, which is, in effect, a tax on drillers.
Republicans, specifically former Gov. Tom Corbett, only have themselves to blame for that one. Corbett obeyed the spirit, if not the letter, of a 2010 pledge not to raise taxes by getting lawmakers to call the impact fee a "fee" not a "tax."
They've spent the intervening six or seven years trying frantically to rebrand it, giving Democrats some badly needed semantic wiggle room.
This week, Wagner's campaign tried to close that net.
"When it comes to sticking those he serves with tax increases, Tom Wolf has made it clear that the money President Trump is saving the people of Pennsylvania should belong to him," Wagner's campaign spokesman, Andrew Romeo, said. "Scott Wagner is the only candidate in this race striving to make sure Harrisburg keeps its greedy paws off the president's tax relief. If you are a Pennsylvanian who voted for President Trump on the premise that he would lower your taxes, why would you ever give Tom Wolf another term?"
Wolf's spokeswoman, Beth Melena, dismissed the jibes, saying "There's no greater example of Scott Wagner's obstructionist tactics than his opposition to a severance tax.
"No one has done the bidding of big oil and gas more than Scott Wagner," she continued. "Wagner was even caught conspiring with House Republican leadership to kill a severance tax to hurt Gov. Wolf's re-election. And reports show that big oil and gas has spent more than $60 million to avoid paying commonsense severance tax. Scott Wagner has repeatedly sided [with them] over Pennsylvanians."
The rest of the day's news starts now.
With a June deadline looming, a state Senate panel has advanced a redistricting reform bill, WHYY-FM reports.
A Senate panel has also advanced a bill creating 'educational savings accounts.' Critics call them school vouchers. WHYY-FM again has the story.
A Pa. Civil Service Commission takeover bill, that would give increased powers to the Office of Administration, has also advanced, The Inquirer reports.
Lawmakers and Attorney General Josh Shapiro are pushing an anonymous threat reporting system for schools, LancasterOnline reports.
House GOP leaders have stripped Rep. Nick Miccarelli of his committee assignments and moved his seat in the chamber, PennLive's Wallace McKelvey reports.
Gov. Tom Wolf thinks the hot dog is a sandwich. This has provoked the kind of reaction you'd think. BillyPenn has the story.
Here's a particularly dramatic #Harrisburg Instagram of the Day:
The #PAGov race is shaping up to feature the worst kind of politics, our former Morning Call colleague, Paul Muschick, opines.
President Donald Trump has nominated longtime PAGOP activist Christine Torretti, of Indiana County, to become the new U.S. ambassador to Malta, PoliticsPA reports.
Farmers are nervously awaiting the outcome of trade talks, Stateline.org reports.
What Goes On.
The House and Senate both come in at 11 a.m. today.
It's also National Guard Day at the Capitol. Be on the lookout for multiple events and displays.
8 a.m., 8E-A East Wing: Nuclear Energy Caucus on jobs
9 a.m., Capitol Plaza: Annual groundbreaking for Capitol Hunger Garden
10 a.m., 418 Main Capitol: Discussion on redistricting with members of California's citizens commission
10:30 a.m., Main Rotunda: Pitt lobbying day
WolfWatch
Gov. Tom Wolf has no public schedule today.
What Goes On (Nakedly Political Edition).
8 a.m.: Breakfast for Sen. Wayne Langerholc, Jr.
8 a.m.: Breakfast for Rep. Marcia Hahn
8 a.m.: Breakfast for Rep. Steve Mentzer
8 a.m.: Breakfast for state House candidate Brandon Markosek
5:30 p.m.: Reception for Sen. Mike Regan
5:30 pm.: Reception for Pa. Senate candidate Maria Collett
Ride the circuit, and give at the max, and you'll part with $10,300 today.
And now you're up to date.