Business groups punch back against energy tax legislation
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania business groups are warning a state Senate-passed proposal to increase energy taxes will hurt the industry’s competitive standing, cause higher bills for consumers and scare off investment. The groups said Tuesday the proposal will hit some large industrial users very hard. The bill would bring in about $100 million annually from a new severance tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.
It also calls for about $400 million from a gross receipts tax on natural gas, electric and telecommunications bills. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf supports the plan to plug a $2.2 billion revenue gap. Wolf’s spokesman says if lawmakers don’t act to fully fund spending that’s already been approved, the state will teeter on the verge of bankruptcy and schools and local municipalities will be harmed.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania school district paid three transgender graduates $20,000 each to settle their lawsuit challenging its restroom policy. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obtained the financial information Tuesday from the Pine-Richland School District under the state’s Right-to-Know law. The plaintiffs’ attorneys received $75,000. The district last week agreed to let students use restrooms corresponding to their “consistently and uniformly asserted gender identity” in settling the suit by the three students.
Two students born anatomically male who now identify as female and one born anatomically female who identifies as male sued in October to overturn interim rules that required students to use restrooms corresponding to their anatomical sex. The interim rules were used after some parents complained other students’ privacy was violated by letting transgender students use the restrooms of their choosing.
DIMOCK, PA (AP) – A gas driller that was targeted with allegations that it polluted residential water wells in Pennsylvania has filed a $5 million lawsuit against two law firms and a Pennsylvania resident, asserting they tried to extort the company through a frivolous lawsuit. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. says Dimock resident Ray Kemble and his lawyers sought to harass and extort the Houston-based driller, attract media attention and “poison” the community.
Their federal suit against Cabot was withdrawn two months after it was filed. Dimock is the small village that became a battleground in the national debate over drilling and fracking after residents accused Cabot of polluting the water nearly a decade ago. The town was featured in the Emmy-winning 2010 documentary “Gasland.” Kemble and his lawyers didn’t immediately return messages Tuesday.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
