There was no income tax legislation that Gov. Chris Sununu claims he vetoed.

He vetoed SB1 establishing a system of Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Sununu knows the difference. Insurance provides direct benefits to participants, such as covering health care costs. Income taxes go the General Fund.

SB 1, with bi-partisan support and including several qualifications and safeguards, requires employees pay 0.5% of their salary to be eligible for 60% of their salary for a leave up to 12 weeks. Employee contributions- not employer contributions- pay for the program.

More unsettling than the misleading statements, is his inability or reluctance to understand the benefits of SB1. It provides much-needed time without additional financial worries to care for a newborn, to care for our elder parents or time to address Opioid addiction.

It undermines our economy says Sununu. Yet often we hear about our state’s labor shortage. We need to retain and attract our younger population who want to raise their families in areas that offer a quality of life, including work/life balance. New Hampshire offers the natural environment. Let’s now establish an attractive economic environment for long-term economic prosperity.

It is difficult to veto Sununu out of office just because he lied. After all, since 2016 a lie has been reduced to a simple “Fake News” misdemeanor. We should, however, replace Sununu because he fails to understand what is best for us all, including Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance.