No Marcellus Shale Tax for Pennsylvania: 3rd Year Straight

HARRISBURG - When the deal was finally done, the budget was smaller than last year's by 3 percent. It was on time by 13 minutes. And true to Gov. Corbett's pledge, it contained no new taxes.

So, as he prepared to sign his first budget late Thursday night, an exultant Corbett proclaimed the $27.15 billion spending plan a victory for "Pennsylvania's working families."

Corbett had reason to exult. He had confronted a $4 billion deficit head on and had gotten just enough consensus from legislative leaders on where, and how much, to cut. At the same time, absent from the 373-page document were the words tripping off the tongues of virtually everyone involved in the budget debate and many across the state: Marcellus Shale.

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