Natural gas closed at a 17 year price low Thursday, and low prices have led to worry among lawmakers about the nature of Ohio’s oil and gas industry—but one group is still calling for an increase to the drilling tax.
A struggling market for natural gas has led top Republican and Democratic leaders to hold back on increasing the so-called fracking tax. But the liberal leaning think tank, Policy Matters Ohio, says data shows that companies pumped more natural gas from the state’s shale last year than the year before.
"Every year that we wait and we don’t impose an adequate severance tax on growing production we lose an opportunity to invest in our own state," says Wendy Patton of Policy Matters.
Republican Senate President Keith Faber has suggested drawing up an increased tax plan now and put it into effect once the market rebounds.
