Questions about the Marcellus Shale and government budgets helped lead the conversations Wednesday night at a Candidates' Night forum in State College.

Eight nominees for state and federal office appeared to field questions at the nearly two-hour event, hosted in the borough municipal building by the League of Women Voters of Centre County. The candidates are running for the 76th and 77th state House District seats, the 34th District state Senate seat and the Fifth Congressional District seat in the U.S. House.

All the races will be decided on Nov. 2.

In the 77th District race, centered in the State College area, the politicking has turned particularly personal and sharp in recent weeks. Incumbent state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, and Republican challenger Joyce Haas, of Patton Township, exchanged a few more subtle barbs Wednesday night, sparring over transportation and prospects for a state constitutional convention.

Conklin has advocated for a constitutional convention that would involve citizen input on subjects such redistricting reform and no-bid contracts. "It's about trusting the people," he said Wednesday. " ... I believe the people of this state will always make the right decisions for the right reasons."

Haas, however, said Pennsylvania already has a good constitution. Involving citizens in a constitutional convention would deliver the most influence to the state's densely populated cities, where people may not "support the same values we have right here in central Pennsylvania," Haas said.

"We have a good constitution. We just need to enforce it," she said. Haas said the constitution, for instance, already notes that legislative districts should not divide up municipalities.

On transportation, Conklin said he supports a $1 highway toll at the major gateways to the state -- similar to tolls at other states' borders. Under his concept, trucks registered in the state and people who cross state lines as part of their daily commutes would be exempted from the toll.

The fee is necessary, Conklin said, to generate revenue from travelers -- including truckers -- who cross the state and put wear on its highways. Revenue from the fee would help maintain the Pennsylvania's transportation system, now estimated to be underfunded by $1 billion a year.

Haas said Conklin's highway proposal "is not a friendly Pennsylvania way." She said the state could get better use from its transportation funds if it were to eliminate reliance on the prevailing-wage standard in government construction projects. The $8 million State College Municipal Building would have cost $3 million less, Haas estimated, if workers had not been paid the prevailing wage. The prevailing wage is based on standard labor rates in far more urban areas, where the cost of living is higher, she has said in prior interviews.

On the scope of the state Legislature, Conklin said he has supported reducing its size. Haas said she would not advocate for shrinking the Legislature overall, but she would push for a major reduction in its operating costs.

When conversation turned to the Marcellus Shale gas development, Conklin noted that gas companies in Pennsylvania have logged some 1,400 violations in the past year. They made $4 billion in profit in Pennsylvania last year and paid $350 million in taxes here, he said.

Conklin said he supports an extraction tax on the Marcellus Shale gas, but he would like to see a substantial portion of its revenue go to local municipalities and to state environmental regulators.

"It's very important that we put in place these things to keep it safe," Conklin said. He called the shale "a great opportunity," but soon added: "Let's not make the mistakes of the past. Let's not let greed run rampant among politicians who look at campaign donations but don't look at future use" of the land.

Conklin also has advocated for mandatory well-water testing within a defined area surrounding gas-well drilling sites.

Haas, meanwhile, said the state extraction tax now under consideration would be the largest of its kind in the U.S. -- and that only a small portion of revenue would remain with municipalities. She said she could support a "reasonable tax" on the Marcellus shale, but she said revenue must go first to local municipalities, with a portion allocated for the state Department of Environmental Protection. None of it should go to the state's general fund, Haas said.

She said Pennsylvania already has "onerous business taxes."

"We don't want to drive (businesses) away," Haas said. "We want to pull them in."

34th state Senatorial District
Questions about the Marcellus Shale led off the discussion between incumbent state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte, and Democratic challenger Jon Eich, a Centre County commissioner. Both are running for the 34th District state Senate seat now held by Corman.

Corman said a newly enacted increase in state fees for new gas wells -- up from the $100 range to as much as $10,000 in some cases -- will help pay for "boots on the ground" to monitor the industry.

He said the state needs a balanced approach in taxing the gas industry. And he said a dual-tax approach advocated by Eich would levy a $1 billion-a-year burden on gas companies.

A burden at that level, Corman suggested, could stunt growth in the industry in Pennsylvania and lead to less economic development.

But Eich said the best-producing gas wells in Pennsylvania can produce as much as $1 million in natural gas each day -- apiece. For top-producing wells, that amounts to $1 billion in gas every three years.

Asking for "$1 billion in taxes on an industry (statewide) is not asking them to contribute a lot," Eich said. "It's their fair share."

He has advocated for more involvement from county conservation districts to protect high-quality watersheds from over-development. On the tax side, Eich said he would support a local property-tax levy on gas wells. In the Bald Eagle school district, for instance, that would enable a 20 percent cut in local property-tax rates, he said.

Eich also supports a severance tax on the gas -- "with a robust local share," he said.

On reducing the size of the state Legislature, Corman said he thinks it could be done if voters support the idea. Eich said he's not particularly interested in a part-time legislature; rather, he said, he would like to see full-time legislators put in full-time work. He suggested that lawmakers don't put in enough full-time days to address legislative priorities adequately.

Fifth Congressional District
Democratic challenger Michael Pipe, of State College, spoke first in the discussion over the Fifth Congressional District seat, now held by incumbent U.S. Rep. Glenn "G.T." Thompson, R-Howard.

Pipe said he would support extending the Bush-era tax cuts for 98 percent of families in the U.S., but not for the top two percent of earners. Allowing their tax breaks to continue, he said, is not the best way to stimulate the economy and would add $700 billion to the federal deficit over 10 years.

Thompson countered that he supports "extending all the tax cuts." He said the top two percent of earners are those making $200,000 or more as individuals, or $250,000 or more as couples.

Oftentimes, those taxpayers "make a payroll out of that" money, Thompson said. He said adding to their tax burden would be crushing on "the job creators" in small business.

Both Thompson and Pipe decried partisan wrangling in Washington, D.C., though Thompson said most of the intense partisanship in Congress plays out at the leadership level. He has worked closely with colleagues "across the aisle," he said.

But Pipe said Thompson has added to the partisan air in the Capitol, saying that the incumbent has used terms like "stimu-less" in reference to federal stimulus funds and "Pelosi-care" in reference to health-care reform.

Pipe also argued for limits on corporate donations to political candidates and for the creation of an online database listing earmarked projects in the federal budget.

Thompson responded that earmarks already are logged online for the public to see. He said campaign-finance transparency needs to be strong, but he did not advocate for a limit on corporate donations to candidates. Rather, Thompson said the Disclose Act supported by Pipe would represent "the largest assault on the freedom of speech that we have."

Its provisions would require organizations that contribute money in the political process to disclose -- in advertisements -- the names and home addresses of their respective top executives, Thompson said. "If that's not an intimidation measure, I don't know what it is," he said.

Thompson and Pipe also sparred over how best to balance the federal budget. Thompson advocated for returning spending to pre-2008 levels. Pipe suggested, among other ideas, an audit of the Department of Defense, a measure mentioned before by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Their full conversation, along with the rest of the Candidates' Night forum, will air on C-NET channel 7 and appear soon on the C-NET website: www.cnet1.org. A television schedule also is posted on the website.

Earlier coverage

• Heat Rises in Conklin-Haas Race for State House (Sept. 14, 2010)