HARRISBURG — An impact fee from drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania generated $198 million in 2012, about the same it raised the prior year.

The figures released Thursday were announced a few days after the annual deadline for companies to pay the fee to the state.

The fee raised $204 million in its first year, and officials say the lower amount last year is largely attributable to falling natural gas prices. The $198 million is an estimate, as producers can challenge their payment amounts.

The money is collected by the Public Utility Commission, which distributes it according to a system established by the law enacted in February 2012. Much of the money goes to help with local effects of drilling, but some also goes to state.

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett's administration will review the practices of companies named in a grand jury report that led to charges against six men as part of an alleged “pay to play” scheme at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.Corbett also said Thursday that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will rebid an $8.6 million information technology contract that was recently awarded to a Colorado-based Ciber.The grand jury singled out $82 million in turnpike commission contracts with Ciber, and a former company vice president was charged. Several other firms named in the grand jury report recently won contracts from the turnpike. Their employees were identified as doing things like giving gifts to turnpike officials, but they weren't charged.

WASHINGTON — A group of Republicans and Democrats in the House is finalizing a sweeping immigration bill that offers work permits and the eventual prospect of citizenship to millions of people living illegally in the United States, aides say. That path to citizenship, however, is likely to take at least 15 years for many, longer than envisioned by Senate immigration negotiators or by President Barack Obama.The secretive House effort, which also aims to further tighten the border against foreigners crossing illegally into the U.S. and crack down on employers who hire them, has been overshadowed by the bipartisan negotiations in the Senate, which is expected to act first on immigration legislation. But it's an important indication that a number of lawmakers, including Republicans, in the conservative-dominated House want to have a say in crafting a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration law.