2012 Bad Laws Listed By Liberty Index — Here are some laws passed in Pennsylvania that have a major and adverse affect on liberty as determined by Bob Guzzardi of LibertyIndex.Com
Act 13 of 2012 (HB 1950 signed into law Feb. 14) The Marcellus Shale Impact Tax/Fee
The Liberty Index scores Act 13 of 2012 a Tier 3 (Major Impact on Liberty)– which means that it is against liberty and against the forgotten taxpayer –because the misnamed “Impact Fee” is, in reality, a tax. A real Impact Fee would be segregated in a fund to compensate people for damage from “externalities” of Marcellus Shale drilling. This phony fee does not do that but redistributes profits without regard to merit.
One would think that if natural gas were discovered in your backyard, you would be thrilled. Instead we tax it. It’s Pennsylvania’s number one job creator. And we tax it more. Lower energy costs mean a higher standard of living, more production of more goods and services for more people. And we tax it more.
Laura Olson Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau gives a good overview of the impact of the not-so-good law.
The money generated is not based on any real world damage or impact but on a formula unrelated to impact.
The Marcellus Shale Impact “Fee” is redistributed by the number of wells, yet Philadelphia County and Bucks County, both of which have moratoriums (Act 87 of 2012 for Bucks County) get millions despite hostility to Marcellus Shale drilling:
State Rep. Kate Harper (R-Montgomery) says Pennsylvania’s five southeastern counties will receive more than $3.4 million in revenue from the collection of an impact fee on natural gas drilling activities in the Marcellus Shale.The funding awarded directly to the counties is just a small portion of the nearly $200 million in impact fees collected so far this year. Additional revenue is dedicated to municipalities where drilling is taking place; to state agencies for the regulation of drilling activities and administration of the impact fee law; and to environmental initiatives, such as the Environmental Stewardship Fund, Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund and county conservation districts.
Here’s the county breakdown Rep. Harper provides:
Bucks: $530,461.69
Chester: $423,255.23
Delaware: $474,238.17
Montgomery: $678,613.66
Philadelphia: $1,294,664.55
Act 16 of 2012 (SB 1237 signed into law Feb 14) –Keystone Opportunity Zone for Shell Cracker Facility
The Liberty Index scores Act 16 of 2012 a Tier 3 because it is gives a special tax subsidy to one specific business. This is, in effect, a tax cut for one business not available to other productive businesses.
Act 16 adds a new Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZ), tax free areas designed to promote economic development.
Elizabeth Stelle of Commonwealth Foundation wrote on March 19, 2012 “Astute readers may remember that last month Pennsylvania earned the dubious distinction of the highest taxes for mature businesses and the second highest taxes for new businesses.
So how did Pennsylvania just beat out Ohio and West Virginia for the Shell Oil Co. cracker plant that is estimated to create more than 10,000 construction and 10,000 permanent jobs?
The Post Gazette has the answer, “Gov. Tom Corbett and his closest advisers spent months wooing the company.” In other words, “corporate welfare. “ Pennsylvania’s corporate taxes are so awful that the Corbett administration had to wine and dine company officials and hand over special tax exemptions and subsidies to seal the deal.”
The concept of Keystone Opportunity Zones is that lower taxes promote productive growth. KOZs are problematic in that it is difficult to measure whether the intended purpose has been achieved by targeted tax subsidy and if tax cut promotes jobs and an increased standard of living, why not tax cuts for all and let a decentralized, diversified and independent individual human actors in the Free Market make the decisions rather than a few statist elitist technocratic central planners?
ACT 85 of 2012 (HB 761 signed into law on July 2) which amends the Tax Reform Code of 1971 contains both EITC and the Shell Cracker Tax Credit and Subsidy.
The Liberty Index scores Act 85 a Tier 3 because this omnibus bill falls far short of what is needed to grow Pennsylvania’s productive economy. Like Act 25 of 2011 which gave the appearance of being taxpayer friendly, Act 85 of 2012 misdirects and does little to effect hoped for results. For example, although Act 85 doubles the Education Improvement Tax Credit to $150 million this is an infinitesimal percentage of the more than $26 billionspent by the unionized, government K-12 system. Omnibus Bills are a Mixed Bag – Three Card Monte – good mixed with bag to swindle The Forgotten Taxpayer.
Act 87 of 2012 (SB 1263 signed into law July 2) Fiscal Code –Marcellus Shale drilling moratorium Bucks County and Harrisburg Bond Bailout
The Liberty Index scores Act 87 Tier 3 because of several special, target provisions that impact commerce despite statements that there is no fiscal impact. Omnibus Bills are difficult to score because of their complexity and because seemingly minor and innocuous provisions are hidden, stealth special and targeted legislation to benefit a particular narrow interest.
Act 87 also seems to violate the Pennsylvania Constitution’s Single Subject Rule which says No bill shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, except a general appropriation bill or a bill codifying or compiling the law or a part thereof.
The bill bans natural gas drilling in Bucks County. There is a great natural gas potential in a strata of rock stretching from Nockamixon State Park in Bucks County to Gettysburg called the South Newark Basin. In the waning late-night hours of this year’s passage of the state budget, Pennsylvania Republicans inserted an addition to the state’s fiscal code placing a moratorium on natural gas drilling there.
For at least three years, the phrase “drilling moratorium” has been political profanity among Republicans who control both chambers of the Legislature and the Governor’s Residence
The only thing more shocking than a
Republican-sponsored drilling moratorium was where it was located: suburban Philadelphia, far outside the gas-rich Marcellus Shale.
The bill also prevented the City of Harrisburg, from filing for bankruptcy from July 1, 2012, to Nov. 30, 2012.
2012 Bad Laws Listed
