Gov. Kelly Ayotte has vetoed a bipartisan plan to create a paint recycling program, saying it creates a sales tax.
Backers of the bill dispute that characterization.
Ayotte announced her rejection of the bill not via a traditional veto message, but by writing “NO SALES TAX” on the bill in red ink and posting it to social media.
She had signaled a veto was likely earlier this year but never weighed in as lawmakers debated the paint recycling plan, which won passage in the New Hampshire House with little controversy before squeaking through the Senate on a 13-11 vote.
State Rep. Karen Ebel, a Democrat from New London, is the lead author of the bill. She insists it’s wrong to consider it a tax.
“It's not a sales tax. There is no money that's going to the state,” Ebel said. “If you look at the fiscal note, there is nothing that involves the state at all."
Under the vetoed bill, paint manufacturers would pay a per gallon fee for paint sold in New Hampshire.
The revenue would have flowed to PaintCare, a non-profit that would collect unwanted paint. PaintCare was launched in Oregon in 2009, but now operates in 10 other states, including Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island.
The bill was backed by a coalition that included Casella, Waste Management, the Business & Industry Association, and the New Hampshire Municipal Association. Americans for Prosperity, the conservative policy group, opposed the bill earlier this year, calling it a "hidden paint tax."
