MarcellusMoney.org releases new data on giving from industry PACs and executives
Harrisburg – The natural gas industry gave $7,175,234 to Pennsylvania
candidates and Political Action Committees (PACs) from 2000 through the end
of 2010, according to an analysis released today by www.MarcellusMoney.org.
$3,442,212 was donated to elected officials currently in office. These
numbers include previously unavailable campaign finance disclosures from
June 8, 2010 to the end of that year.
Governor Tom Corbett accepted a total of $641,193 from the gas industry in
the last half of 2010, an average of more than $100,000 per month. Senate
President Joe Scarnati accepted $56,859 during that period. Senator
Scarnati was not up for reelection in 2010. House Republican Policy
Committee Chairman Dave Reed accepted $23,800. Senate Appropriations
Chairman Jake Corman accepted $12,450. Total figures for each official can
be found below.
Gas contributions to PA candidates have more than doubled since the last
gubernatorial election. In the 2006 election cycle, the industry gave a
total of $1,112,477 to state candidates. In 2008, that total was
$1,004,757. In 2010, it was $2,608,188.
“We know that natural gas drilling is a serious threat to the safety of our
air and our drinking water, but it’s becoming clear that gas industry
checkbooks pose an equally dangerous threat to our democracy,” said Josh
McNeil of Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania. “When our Governor and our
legislative leaders ignore the overwhelming public support for a fair tax on
gas drillers, how can they ask us to believe that six-figure contributions
aren’t playing a part in their decisions?”
Interested parties may download the complete data set from
MarcellusMoney.org, a joint project of nonpartisan nonprofits Common
Cause/Pennsylvania and Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania.
Unfortunately, the data is not complete. As of late 2010, the Pennsylvania
Department of State (DOS) has been deprived of the funds necessary to
transfer thousands of paper campaign finance reports into their computer
system for easy online viewing and database analysis. The problem continues
into 2011, as less than half of candidate and PAC reports are filed each
year using the voluntary DOS electronic filing system.
Other highlights of the data include (all numbers are total contributions
from 2000-2010):
Total contributions from the natural gas industry: $7,175,234
to Governor Corbett: $1,634,097
to Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati: $293,333
to House Speaker Samuel Smith: $59,250
to Senate Republicans: $809,548
to each Senate republican (average): $26,991
to Senate Democrats: $127,500
to each Senate Democrat (average): $6,375
to House Republicans: $554,029
to each House Republican (average): $4,948
to House Democrats: $293,100
to each House Democrat (average): $3,220
to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee: $117,692
to House ER&E Committee Chair Scott Hutchinson: $13,550
to ER&E Members
Stephen Bloom, Tim Kreiger, Randy Vulakovich, John Hornaman, Steve
Santarsiero and Greg Vitali: $0
to the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee: $182,500
to Senate ER&E Committee Chair Mary Jo White: $18,500
to Democratic Party PACs: $129,100
to Republican Party PACs: $860,825
_The top recipient of Marcellus Money is _
_Governor Tom Corbett (R): $1,634,097_
_The top 10 legislative recipients of Marcellus Money are: _
Senate President pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R–25): $293,334
House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Dave Reed (R–62): $105,732
Senator Donald White, member of the ER&E Committee (R–41): $89,150
House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R–28): $79,100
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman (R–34): $67,290
Speaker of the House Sam Smith (R–66): $59,250
Representative Bill DeWeese (D–50): $58,750
Senator Tim Solobay, member of the ER&E Committee (D–46): $48,825
Senator Jeff Piccola (R–15): $48,450
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R–9): $48,250
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