Sen. Franken Reignites Push to Level the Playing Field for Minnesota Retailers

Press Release

Today, on the anniversary of the Senate passing the bipartisan Marketplace Fairness Act, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) called on the House of Representatives to take up the legislation, saying this common sense fix will allow main street businesses in Minnesota and across the country to compete on a level playing field.

Sen. Franken is a cosponsor of the legislation and says he has heard from small and large retailers alike who say the Marketplace Fairness Act would level the playing field between local and online retailers by requiring online retailers to collect sales tax. Last year, the Senate--in a strong, bipartisan 69-27 vote--voted to eliminate a loophole that gives large online retailers like Amazon and eBay an unfair advantage over local job providers who run traditional Main Street businesses. The House has not yet considered the bill.

"Main street businesses are the bedrock of Minnesota communities--they support about one in four jobs in the state and bring billions of dollars into our economy--and we should do everything we can to make sure they can compete on a level playing field," said Sen. Franken. "One year ago, the Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act to eliminate the loophole that gives an unfair advantage to online retailers. It's time for the House to pass this important legislation to support Minnesota's communities."

Last year in a Senate floor speech, Sen. Franken highlighted the situation faced by Norby's, a department store in downtown Detroit Lakes that has been an anchor of the community for decades, and which, like brick-and-mortar retailers all over Minnesota, struggles to compete with online retailers that are not required to collect sales tax. In Minnesota, the retail industry supports almost 800,000 workers, or more than one in four jobs-including large retailers like Best Buy and Target, as well as thousands of smaller businesses.

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