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Smart Talk: Gas severance tax proposal; Moving between public and private sector in environmental, oil and gas, and lobbying

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What to look for on Smart Talk Thursday, January 21, 2016:

A tax on natural gas drillers to help pay for increases in education spending was one of Gov. Tom Wolf’s fundamental proposals when he ran for office in 2014 and in the budget he laid out last March.

Much has happened since then but Republican legislators wouldn’t accept an extraction tax as part of the budget and the price of natural gas would have driven down revenues derived from it.

The governor has promised to once again campaign for a gas severance tax when he proposes his next budget in three weeks. 

Democratic State Rep. Mike Sturla of Lancaster County is proposing a severance tax that is somewhat unique in that the revenue would go toward the state’s multi-billion dollar public pension debt.

Sturla explains on Thursday’s Smart Talk.

Also, StateImpact Pennsylvania reporter Marie Cusick’s new feature “Pennsylvania’s Blurred Lines” tracks people who hold or have had held high level state government positions moving between public and private sector jobs. Specifically, Marie documents those who have held jobs related to the environment, in the oil and gas industries, or lobbying since 2007 when the state’s natural gas industry took off.

Marie Cusick tells us about it on Smart Talk.

Finally, Health Smart: Hidden Hazards airs on WITF-TV Thursday night at 8.  Producer and host Keira McGuire appears on Smart Talk to discuss infectious diseases that are making a comeback.

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Marie Cusick and State Rep. Mike Sturla

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