New Hampshire governor vetoes paint EPR bill, calling it a ‘sales tax’

New Hampshire governor vetoes paint EPR bill, calling it a ‘sales tax’

Gov. Kelly Ayotte criticized the bill as an added tax on residents, but Casella, WM and other recycling groups had backed the program's waste diversion aspects.

First a paint tax, now a battery tax

Gov. Kelly Ayotte on Monday vetoed House Bill 451, which would have established a statewide paint recycling program funded by an “assessment” on paint.  Merriam-Webster notes that for more than 500 years the word “assessment” has meant “to determine the rate or amount of (a tax).” Gov. Ayotte correctly called the assessment a tax, and vetoed it. She might soon get a chance to do that again.  On Tuesday, the House Finance Committee narrowly voted…