HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf clashed Monday with a coalition of more than a dozen business groups that is trying to derail his proposed severance tax on natural-gas drilling, charging that they are putting gas and oil interests ahead of the schools and children that Wolf says will benefit from his plan.

“We cannot keep doing the same thing and expecting different results in Pennsylvania,” Wolf said in a response to the coalition led by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. “Now is the time to do big things in Pennsylvania.”

In a letter to Wolf and members of the Legislature last week, the coalition said the natural gas industry has helped create about 200,000 jobs, paid more than $2 billion in various state taxes since 2008 and reduced energy costs.

“A higher severance tax would drive our fastest-growing industry out of the state,” said chamber President Gene Barr.

Said Dave Taylor, president of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association, also a coalition member, “If state government wants more middle-class jobs, economic growth and long-term tax revenue, we should optimize conditions for continued growth, not punish this emerging industry with higher taxes.”

Pennsylvania is the only major gas-producing state without a severance tax. Wolf has proposed a 5 percent tax on the value of the gas extracted from the Marcellus Formation plus a flat fee of 4.7 cents per unit of gas and a pricing “floor” that would ensure extra revenue when gas prices hit rock bottom.

“You know that the severance tax I’ve proposed is critical to getting Pennsylvania back on track, and it will do so at minimal cost to Pennsylvania citizens,” Wolf said, insisting that 80 percent of the tax will be paid by nonresidents.