Amazon's recent business decision to drop its Minnesota affiliates in response to the new affiliate nexus law passed by the state Legislature underscores the need for Congressional action on this issue.

Earlier this year the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed the federal Marketplace Fairness Act and now it is time for the U.S. House of Representatives - with the support of our Minnesota delegation - to do the same.

Amazon's notice to affiliates voiced strong support for the Marketplace Fairness Act, and mentioned that the company will reinstate the Minnesota affiliate program once the Act is passed. The Minnesota Retailers Association looks forward to the return of the affiliate program, and until then encourages Minnesota businesses seeking affiliate relationships to look to the many brick-and-mortar and online retailers that continue to offer similar programs.

Right now it is up to the U.S. Congress to end uncertainty for retailers by passing legislation that permanently ends special tax treatment for online-only retailers. We urge Minnesota's House delegation to support this important legislation, and to urge their leadership for a vote on this issue.

After a multi-year effort to level the playing field for retailers, the Minnesota Legislature passed e-fairness in the final hours of the session.

At our 15th Annual Legislative Wrap-Up Golf Tournament last Tuesday, the Minnesota Retailers Association (MnRA) named State Senator Ann Rest an "E-Fairness Champion" for her commitment to seeing this legislation through the process and making it stronger along the way.

Senator Rest's efforts resulted in Governor Mark Dayton signing e-fairness in to law as part of the tax bill on May 23, 2013. Retailers thank Senator Rest for her efforts to revise Minnesota's tax code around today's business model while recognizing that a sale is a sale.  
 
The Minnesota Retailers Association is pleased to present Senator Ann Rest our E-Fairness Champion award for her work to level the playing field for our brick-and-mortar retailers. We recognize Senator Rest's leadership in a multi-year effort to educate legislators and Minnesotans about the need to modernize our sales tax system when it comes to treating all sales equally.  For her distinctive leadership on e-fairness, retailers across Minnesota say thank you.

This week marks the mid-point of Minnesota's 2013 legislative session. Legislators returned to their districts for conversations with constituents, town hall meetings, vacations, and in some cases ice fishing. At MnRA we take the opportunity to inventory retail issues at the Capitol and provide you this update.

Click here to view MnRA's mid-session report.