CONCORD — Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Smith is blasting two Democrats for their position on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban a broad-based income tax.

Smith, who is now chairman of the No Income Tax political action committee, said gubernatorial nominee and former state Sen. Maggie Hassan and congressional nominee Ann McLane Kuster are “disingenuous” for claiming that they oppose an income tax but also oppose the proposed amendment.

At a televised debate on Wednesday, Kuster said she opposes an income tax for New Hampshire “period.” However, she said after the debate that she would not vote to support the amendment. Hassan has taken “the pledge,” in which she vows not to support broad-based income or sales taxes, but likewise has said she would not want to adopt the amendment and forever bind future legislators.

“By saying you oppose the amendment because you don't want to 'tie the hands' of future Legislatures, is just another way of saying you want to leave the option of an income tax on the table in the future,” Smith said in a statement. “This notion is especially troubling coming from folks like Kuster and Hassan, each of whom have supported the idea of having an income tax in the past.”