Severance Tax Bill Introduced in PA House to Benefit Transportation

Kevin Haggerty, a Democratic state representative from the northeast region of Pennsylvania, recently introduced House Bill 1947 to impose a 5% severance tax on the gross value of each unit severed, plus an additional 4.6 cents per unit.  “Unit” is defined to mean a thousand cubic feet of natural gas measured at the well head.  Unlike previous severance tax proposals that would spread the tax dollars across various programs and beneficiaries, this bill seeks to use the tax proceeds solely to benefit Pennsylvania’s transportation system via the Motor License Fund.