Follow the money

On Sunday, John Micek had a terrific post outlining the major hang ups of the budget deal.

The action came just days after majority Senate Republicans made it clear that any divergence from that deal would send negotiations on the four-months-late spending plan ''back to square one.''

The bill, approved 103-98, largely along party lines, contained two major components that were not part of the $27.9 billion compromise budget deal announced two weeks ago by House and Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans and Gov. Ed Rendell.

The major sticking points: majority House Democrats' decision to abandon agreed-to taxes on arts and theaters tickets and small games of chance and replace them with taxes on cigars and smokeless tobacco, as well as a so-called ''severance'' tax on the natural gas extracted from the Marcellus shale deposits in northern and western Pennsylvania.

''We agreed to a very specific set of revenues and a very specific level of expenditures, that is what constitutes the agreement,'' Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, said in an interview late last week, adding that any attempt to change the painstaking deal ''would be a renegotiation.''

Micek's article does an outstanding job of explaining the current dealbreakers, but there was something else that caught my attention.  One of Micek's commenters asked, "Who is getting paid by tobacco interests, and who by companies that propose to drill for natural gas?"

So, without further ado, the answer to that question (with some help from followthemoney.org).

Tobacco

Contributions to the House

It isn't a lot of money, but Republicans were the only ones to accept from the tobacco industry in 2008.

Contributions to the Senate

Once again, not a lot of money, but Republicans were the only ones to accept from the tobacco industry.

Gas & Oil

Contributions to the House

In total the House (Dems and Republicans) received a total of $943,492 over the last nine years from Gas & Oil.  The Democrats received $268,640 (28.5 percent), while the Republicans received $674,852 (71.5 percent). 

Contributions to the Senate

In total the Senate (Dems and Republicans) received a total of $576,352 over the last nine years from Gas & Oil.  The Democrats received $150,025 (26 percent), while the Republicans received $426,327 (74 percent).

Conclusion

I don't claim to have complete knowledge of the budget negotiations, but this is what I think.

Pennsylvania remains the only state to not tax smokeless tobacco and cigars, which makes absolutely no sense.  It's quite curious that the Republicans are the only ones to accept from the tobacco industry, while also being the ones not wanting to tax smokeless tobacco/cigars. 

The proposed tax on Marcellus shale is a similar story.  Here we have a multi-billion dollar industry that could get away with going unchecked for a year.  Sure, the embryonic natural gas industry might be relatively new, but they are developing a natural resource (meaning they won't struggle to generate revenue). Not to mention, PA is one of the few states to have huge deposits of Marcellus shale, which means drilling companies have to come to Pennsylvania. 

Keep in mind, Gas & Oil interests have contributed a total of $1.5 million to the PA House and Senate over the last nine years, with $1.1 million going to the GOP (72 percent). 

So, the question needs to be asked, who are the Pennsylvania Republicans trying to protect; the voters or the campaign contributors?

Don't get me wrong, this isn't all about the GOP (Gov. Rendell doesn't want to tax Marcellus shale this year, instead he wants to wait until next year's budget), but the numbers certainly seem to say that the GOP is trying to protect their campaign contributors.

Meanwhile, the Democrats want to prevent small game and theater/art ticket taxes; two taxes that would impact many Pennsylvanians. 

This decision seems awfully simple; implement the two taxes (tobacco and Marcellus shale) which would directly affect the big businesses, while passing on the two taxes (small games and theater/art tickets) which would impact many average Pennsylvanians.