Two weeks ago, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (liberal Democrat) launched, with much fanfare, PAyback.pa.gov, a new online money-back guarantee system that allows residents, businesses, charities, and schools to check their eligibility for a refund of their permit, license, or certification application fee and request a refund if they believe they are eligible. Shapiro promised individuals and businesses a money-back guarantee if the permits they applied for were not issued within the statutory time limits they were supposed to meet. We were hopeful that shale drillers would now have recourse to nudge the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) into doing its job on time. Except it’s all a sham. It’s bogus.
