Grover the Great, guider of Pennsylvania policy, is weighing in on Senate President Pro Tem Scarnati’s impact fee proposal.

His verdict? Tax.

I’m speaking, of course, about Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform. Governor Corbett signed the group’s “no new taxes” pledge during last year’s campaign, and has vowed to stick by the promise throughout his entire administration, whether it lasts four or eight years.

In a letters sent to Scarnati and other lawmakers, including Republican Mary Jo White, Norquist warned, “make no mistake, this proposal is a tax increase based on any honest and objective analysis. As such, a vote in favor of Senate Bill 1100 also representas a violation of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a commitment which Gov. Corbett and 34 members of the legislature have made to their constituents.”

The letter, and a response Scarnati mailed to Norquist, were obtained by the Post-Gazette’s Laura Olson. Scarnati pushed back against Norquist’s verdict, listing four reasons why the measure is not a tax. “1) Not one penny of the impact fee is deposited into the General Fund. 2) The fee is entirely dedicated to local and statewide impacts associated directly or indirectly with gas drilling. 3) The impact fee is modeled after the municipal waste fee currently set forth in Pennsylvania law. 4) The fee is a fixed amount per well.”

For good measure, Scarnati added, “As way of background, since we have never met nor have we ever spoken to each other…few in state government have been as critical of and engaged against raising taxes as I have.”

The Post-Gazette story comes two days after the Inquirer profiled Norquist’s sway over Pennsylvania policy. The article included a critical quote from Scarnati’s top staffer, Drew Crompton, who called ATR’s influence “a dangerous precedent.”

Olson was also privileged to receive a rare quote from Corbett’s hermetic spokesman, Kevin Harley, pushing back against Scarnati’s insistence the fee be passed alongside a state budget next month. (The governor wants to delay the fee debate until his Marcellus Shale Commission issues its report on July 22.)  "He's been very clear - the budget is June 30, and the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission won't be ready until mid-July," said Harley.