03/25/2013
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March 25, 2013
A major victory for supporters of the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) is contained in the budget resolution adopted by the U.S. Senate over the past weekend. The resolution, which narrowly passed in the early hours of Saturday, March 23, 2013, includes an amendment authored by Senators Michael Enzi (R-WY) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) to include the MFA in the resolution. Among other things, the MFA would allow states that meet certain minimum simplification standards to impose sales and use tax collection responsibility equally on retail sales regardless of whether they occur in stores or online. The Enzi-Durbin amendment was adopted during the evening on Friday, March 22, by an overwhelming vote of 75-24. However, the budget resolution passed earlier in the month by the U.S House of Representatives does not include any language related to the MFA. Given that Congressional budget resolutions, even those negotiated and approved by both chambers of Congress, are seldom enacted into law with the signature of the President, the consideration of the MFA by the Senate this past week was largely symbolic. However, the fact that the Enzi-Durbin amendment was passed on a strong bipartisan vote should add to the momentum building for this commonsense legislation by proving to the leaders of both the House and the Senate that the bill has ample support to pass the Senate, an uncommon feat in this era of intense partisanship. NAREIT is a member of the Marketplace Fairness Coalition, a broad group of businesses and trade associations, including the American Booksellers Association, the International Council of Shopping Centers, the National Association of College Stores, the National Retail Federation, and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which supports the Marketplace Fairness Act. Notably, online retailer Amazon.com is a member of the Coalition.
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