PITTSBURGH Six years ago, state Rep. Greg Vitali (D) made the first attempt to impose a tax on drillers sucking natural gas from Pennsylvanias bedrock.

Lawmakers have tried at least 66 times since, to no avail.

This makes Pennsylvania the only major gas-producing state that doesnt require oil and gas companies to pay a fee, or severance tax, on the amount of gas extracted 5 trillion cubic feet . The tax could raise $100 million this year alone to help plug the states $2.2 billion budget deficit. Failing to pass it amounts to leaving money on the table , according to the Brookings Institution. About 70 percent of voters in Pennsylvania support adding the tax.

In July, the elusive severance tax seemed within grasp. The state Senate passed a bipartisan spending bill that included a severance tax that would charge fracking companies about 2 cents per thousand cubic feet of gas.

But when the budget bill that included it came up for debate in the House of Representatives two weeks ago, the severance tax got cut illustrating what critics say is the deep-pocketed gas industrys stranglehold on Pennsylvania politics. On Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf (D), for whom the tax is a key political issue, urged legislators to pass a severance tax proposal approved by a bipartisan committee.

This is a fair and commonsense proposal that will address our structural budget deficit, Wolf told HuffPost by email.