Tom Wolf: Fracking Tax Revenue Would Fund Schools

A proposed five-percent tax on fracking revenues would help fund Pennsylvania public schools, gubernatorial hopeful Tom Wolf told a Chester school Thursday.

AP Photo | York Daily Record, Jason Plotkin

AP Photo | York Daily Record, Jason Plotkin

Tom Wolf, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania governor, said Thursday that in his administration tax revenues on hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) would go to fund Pennsylvania schools.

“Five percent (tax) would raise a billion dollars,” Wolf said in an appearance at STEM Academy in Chester. “Some of that would go back to the localities, some of that would go to the Department of Environmental Protection, some of that would be used to build a bridge to a sustainable energy future. But hundreds of millions of dollars of that new money would go to support public education.”

Per his website, Wolf calls for a 5 percent tax on drilling in the Marcellus Shale. In a recent poll, Wolf widened his lead over Corbett to more than 30 points.

[KYW 1060]