Pennsylvania should move ahead with a severance tax that is comparable to that imposed by neighboring West Virginia. General Fund tax collections are $600 million below estimate in the current fiscal year, and resources available for the 2014-15 budget are now expected to be $1.5 billion lower than a few short months ago.[20] A reasonable severance tax could not only help bridge this gap, but provide needed resources for schools, early childhood, healthcare, and other critical investments into the future.