North Carolina legislators spent two days preparing to give a Canadian paper company up to $10 million before hitting the brakes on Thursday.

The House twice voted by narrow margins late Thursday to reject a proposal to give Montreal-based Domtar Corp. up to $2 million a year for five years, the Associated Press reports. The Senate approved the spending on Wednesday, the same day lawmakers approved a budget that included a $1 billion tax increase and service cuts worth billions more.

Domtar plans to stop making white office paper at its mill near Plymouth, but sees a market opportunity to turn loblolly pine trees into the absorbent fluff used in diapers, state officials said.