Concurrent Budget Resolution on the Budget, Fiscal Year 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, the Marketplace Fairness Act is about leveling the playing field for brick-and-mortar businesses. We have a bipartisan and bicameral bill to do just that. So I am pleased to join Senators DURBIN, ENZI, and many of my colleagues in offering this budget amendment today to add a deficit neutral reserve fund to ensure marketplace fairness by allowing States to enforce their State and local sales tax laws.

This is a big issue in Rhode Island, where businesses have a hard time competing against out-of-State retailers because of outdated rules that require shops on Main Street to collect revenue, but their out-of-State online competition does not.

When Internet commerce was still in its early stages online companies were basically exempted from collecting State and local sales tax for sales to States where they do not have a physical presence despite the fact there was an obligation to collect sales tax on those purchases.

This puts Main Street businesses at a competitive disadvantage, hurts the ability of Rhode Island to keep jobs in the State, and has strained State budgets all across the United States.

In 2012, Rhode Island lost out on estimated $70 million in uncollected revenue. Revenue that was owed but because of an outdated Supreme Court decision went uncollected. It is past time that we fix this loophole.

I have talked to a lot of local business owners about this in Rhode Island and many of them say the same thing: Since when is requiring all customers to pay the same sales tax rate a tax increase?

This is a bipartisan proposal. It seeks to keep jobs in our communities, and bring much-needed revenue to strained State budgets all across the United States.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and continued efforts to close this long-outstanding loophole.

I thank them and yield the floor.

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