Senator: Proposed Drilling Tax Unconstitutional

One Pennsylvania Senator is speaking out against a proposed tax on natural gas drilling after reviewing the legislation.

State Sen. Jake Corman told WJAC-TV on Friday that the Marcellus Shale extraction tax bill was launched in the Senate, but the state constitution outlines that all revenue legislation must start in the House.

“I think they possibly violated three different articles of the constitution,” said Corman. "I'm not comfortable risking constitutional challenge. It looks to me as if they violated the constitution. Why even risk it? Why not have the House restart it?"

Corman fears the legislative missteps may cause the bill to be challenged and fall apart, similar to Gov. Ed Rendell’s attempt at tolling Interstate 80.

"We just went through this with Act 44, the transportation bill of the tolling of Interstate 80,” said Corman. “People were expecting a certain amount of dollars were going to come in."

Despite concerns that legislators are under scrutiny with only three voting days left for the Senate, Corman told WJAC-TV that additional voting days may be added before the midterm election in November.

Earlier this week, members of the House narrowly passed the proposed tax rate of 39 cents for every 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.