Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Natural gas drillers spend more than $60 million to woo Pa. legislature

Philly.com: HARRISBURG — Over the last seven years, Pennsylvania lawmakers have introduced no fewer than 67 bills to tax natural-gas drilling companies.

In nearly every instance, those measures have died.

Supporters of a tax say few other interests have managed to thwart legislation in the Capitol so successfully and for so long, earning Pennsylvania the distinction of being the only major gas-producing state without a severance tax. They point to one reason: the industry’s ability to spend tens of millions of dollars on influence.

An Inquirer and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette analysis of lobbying disclosure and campaign finance records since 2010 shows that natural gas drilling companies and their industry groups have spent at least $46.6 million on lobbying and another $14.5 million on political donations — many of the latter going to legislative leaders who control the flow of bills in the Capitol and the heads of committees that regulate their business.

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