l In late March, the New Jersey Paint Council and NPCA provided testimony at a hearing for a New Jersey bill that would have imposed a $0.50 per container tax on paint. Their testimony convinced the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee to forego the special tax, according to NPCA.
Senate Bill 1348 would establish a $25 million revolving fund to provide loans to property owners needing funding assistance for old lead paint abatement and management. The bill’s primary sponsors are Ronald L. Rice, a democrat representing Newark, and Anthony R. Bucco, co-Republican Majority Leader.
The bill’s sponsor had proposed amending the bill so that the funding would be a combination of the $0.50 tax and an increase in property owners’ “inspection fees” from $33 to $35 every five years. The Senate Committee on Community Affairs amended the bill to remove the $0.50 tax following New Jersey Paint Council and NPCA testimony, and replaced the funding source with $50 million from the money received by the state as part of New Jersey’s tobacco settlement monies and $1 million from the state’s Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund. Also included was a $0.50 per gallon “apportionment” of the current six percent sales tax already collected on paint sales (i.e. if paint is $15.00 per gallon, the state would collect the six percent sales tax and give $0.50 of that to the lead program), which would not be an additional burden to paint manufacturers or retailers.
NPCA and the New Jersey Paint Council defeated a similar effort to impose a tax on the industry last year.