Criticism of her support for an income tax hasn’t slowed Joyce Craig’s roll on the policy as she repeated her call to bring back the tax on income from interest and dividends during a Monday press conference.
Republican Kelly Ayotte responded by repeating her pledge not to support any tax increases, a significant policy difference with her Democratic opponent.
While the Craig campaign blocked a NHJournal reporter from entering the IBEW training center in Concord to cover the event, reporting from other media outlets quoted the former Manchester mayor repeating her support for the tax.
“Craig said that, as governor, she will do what Ayotte will not: reverse the repeal of the interest in dividends tax,” WMUR’s Adam Sexton reported.
“Right now, we have Republicans like Kelly Ayotte who are fine with giving tax breaks to the most rich in our state, like herself,” Craig said. “And now the tax burden is going on our hard-working families.”
Craig reaffirmed her support for the interest and dividend income tax hike, which she estimates would cost Granite Staters $160 million a year, surrounded by union leaders like Deb Howes, president of the American Federation of Teachers in New Hampshire. It was the first stop in Craig’s statewide Freedom and Opportunity Tour. She’s scheduled to appear in Nashua on Tuesday.
“Joyce Craig is finally admitting what we’ve known all along – if elected, she’ll raise taxes on New Hampshire families just like she always has,” said Ayotte in response. “She tried to raise taxes every year as mayor, overrode the tax cap, and pushed for a city sales tax – and as governor, she’d bring back over $160 million in taxes with one signature. We can’t afford Joyce Craig as governor.”
Craig claims collecting interest and dividends income means taxing millionaires. But according to 2021 data from the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration, of the 71,259 tax returns reporting I&D income, 61 percent paid $500 or less in taxes on that revenue. Given the five percent tax rate at the time, that means they had $10,000 or less in I&D revenue.
About a third of those filers paid nothing, meaning their income fell below the exemption level ($2,400 for an individual, or $4,800 for a married couple.)
In a statement, Nick Lydon of the IBEW laid out the fundamental difference between the two candidates, saying Ayotte would stay the course on Gov. Chris Sununu’s policies while Craig would bring change.
“Kelly [Ayotte] has repeatedly told us she will keep us moving in the same direction we’re going in. She calls it the right direction,” Lydon said. “New Hampshire is currently in the middle of a housing crisis, we have the 7th highest electricity costs in the country, we have the lowest minimum wage in New England, the lowest unemployment payout in New England, and Ayotte has signed right-to-work legislation in the past. That doesn’t sound like the right direction.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Ayotte, who has never served as an elected executive, has not signed any legislation in the past.)
