Newly elected Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, whose administration is filled with Ed Rendell retreads, remains “dug in” when it comes to a severance tax. One of the Rendell retreads (with ties to the anti-drilling PennFuture) is John Hanger, former Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection under Rendell. Hanger is Wolf’s Secretary of Planning and Policy (see PA Gov-Elect Wolf Appoints John Hanger Secretary of High Taxes). Hanger ran against Wolf and Wolf’s (now) chief of staff, Katie McGinty, who is herself another Rendell retread, before dropping out of the governor race last year (see Pass One Last Joint for John Hanger). True to his far-left lib Dem roots, Hanger (as Wolf’s mouthpiece on this issue) is saying we need those high severance taxes and we need them now. Squishy RINO Republicans, like Senator Joe Scarnati, will consider adopting the severance tax–but only after being bribed enough, er, ah, pension reform is dealt with first…
