Wolf says $4.5B plan could help schools clean up lead paint

PHILADELPHIA -- Gov. Tom Wolf is pitching his plan to finance a multibillion-dollar capital plan by taxing Marcellus Shale natural gas production as a way to help Pennsylvania schools clean up environmental health hazards.

The Democrat on Thursday toured Taggart Elementary School in Philadelphia as he works to raise support for his plan. That school like others in Philadelphia is in the midst of removing lead paint.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last year that 80 of the city's 148 elementary schools had at least 50 reports of environmental hazards, such as flaking lead paint.

Wolf's proposal will be up to the Legislature, where the Republican-controlled House has rejected Wolf's previous overtures to tax natural gas. Under Wolf's plan , a $4.5 billion bond would fund a wide range of projects, from controlling floodwaters to fighting blight.