Wolf Spokesman: Proposed Shale Tax A Casualty Of Compromise

By Tony Romeo

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Governor Wolf's spokesman says the governor had to make compromises to get new education funding and that's why he gave up, for now, his push for a tax on natural gas drillers.

Jeff Sheridan is Governor Wolf's spokesman says: "We're dealing with an overwhelming Republican majority in the legislature and this required a lot of compromise."

That compromise, Sheridan says, will allow the Democratic governor to achieve his biggest goal: significant new education funding.

But the governor also wanted property tax relief and the reality, says Franklin and Marshall College political analyst Terry Madonna, is that to do that and increase education spending, a natural gas tax would not come close to raising the $2 billion dollars in new revenue that a sales tax hike can generate.

"What makes it even more difficult is the fact that the price of natural gas has dropped,"says Madonna, "and the number of new wells that have been put into production is down."

Madonna believes Wolf came to the realization that he had to, at least for now, drop the natural gas tax.