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Schwartz Adds to List of Things Natural Gas Tax Could Buy

The early frontrunner in the Democratic race for governor is adding to the list of things a tax on natural gas could buy.

Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz says she would set aside money for large-scale transportation projects that can attract private investment.

Schwartz says the so-called infrastructure bank would not substitute PennDOT, but it would supplement the agency in order to launch things like rail and subway expansions as well as port development.

"This would be a pool of funds that would be used to finance, the start up, or to accelerate, or to expand high-impact infrastructure projects in Pennsylvania," she said. "It’d be capitalized with several hundred million dollars from the shale tax."

She says the fund would consist of revenue from a five percent severance tax on natural gas production, which she would levy on top of the existing impact fee on drillers.

The additional levy, she said, could generate more than 600 million dollars in its first year.

Former Gov. Ed Rendell tried in vain to enact such a tax, and Gov. Tom Corbett has been against the approach.  

Schwartz has said she would also use severance tax revenue to pay for early education and basic education investment.

She says she doesn’t know how the money would be divvied up.