Here’s Why Some New York Towns Want to Secede to Pennsylvania

Some residents of New York’s Southern Tier have proposed seceding to Pennsylvania.

Residents of the area say they're unable to capitalize on the gas-rich Marcellus Shale due to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s fracking ban.

"The Southern Tier is desolate," Conklin town supervisor Jim Finch told WBNG. "We have no jobs and no income. The richest resource we have is in the ground."

As residents of the neighboring Keystone State, they would be able to take advantage of hydraulic fracturing.

The Upstate New York Towns Association said in a statement that after Cuomo announced hydraulic fracturing would be banned in the state, a town supervisor floated the idea of seceding to Pennsylvania to the group.

“The association began comparing taxes in New York with taxes in Pennsylvania and comparing the cost of doing business in New York with the cost of doing business in Pennsylvania,” it said.

The association is studying “seceding to Pennsylvania, partitioning the state, as well as other options that may come up.”

According to the association, 15 towns in Broome, Delaware, Tioga and Sullivan counties are considering seceding, but declined to identify them.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, said he was sympathetic to the concerns of the towns.

“Given its exorbitant taxes and burdensome regulatory environment, I can certainly understand why parts of New York would want to leave the state,” said von Spakovsky.

Unlike states seceding from the union, said von Spakovsky, there is a constitutional procedure for towns to secede to a different state.

“The Civil War settled the issue that states can’t secede,” said von Spakovsky. “But unlike states, towns, counties and cities are not barred from becoming part of a different state as long as they get approval from both states and Congress.”