Minnesota Legislature
SF 1708
as introduced - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/09/2010 02:23am
KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.
Current Version - as introduced
1.1A resolution
1.2memorializing the members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation to sponsor
1.3and support the Main Street Fairness Act.
1.4WHEREAS, the 1967 Bellas Hess and the 1992 Quill Supreme Court decisions denied
1.5states the authority to require the collection of sales and use taxes by out-of-state sellers that have
1.6no physical presence in the taxing state; and
1.7WHEREAS, the combined weight of the inability to collect sales and use taxes on remote
1.8sales through traditional carriers and the tax erosion due to electronic commerce threatens the
1.9future viability of the sales tax as a stable revenue source for state and local governments; and
1.10WHEREAS, the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee
1.11has estimated that states lost as much as $30 billion in 2008 because they were not able to collect
1.12taxes on remote sales, including sales on the Internet; and
1.13WHEREAS, the same study estimated that Minnesota lost as much as $456 million in 2008
1.14because of this inability to require remote sellers to collect our state's sales and use taxes; and
1.15WHEREAS, since 1999, state legislators, governors, local elected officials, state tax
1.16administrators, and representatives of the private sector have worked to develop a streamlined
1.17sales and use tax collection system for the 21st century; and
1.18WHEREAS, between 2001 and 2004, Minnesota and 39 other states enacted legislation
1.19expressing the intent of the state to simplify the state's sales and use tax collection systems and to
1.20participate in multistate discussions to finalize and ratify an interstate agreement to streamline
1.21collection of the states' sales and use taxes; and
2.1WHEREAS, on November 12, 2002, state delegates unanimously ratified the Streamlined
2.2Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which substantially simplifies state and local sales tax systems,
2.3removes the burdens to interstate commerce that were of concern to the Supreme Court, and
2.4protects state sovereignty; and
2.5WHEREAS, the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement provides the states with a
2.6blueprint to create a simplified and more uniform sales and use tax collection system that, when
2.7implemented, allows justification for Congress to overturn the Bellas Hess and Quill decisions;
2.8and
2.9WHEREAS, Minnesota enacted legislation beginning in 2001 to bring this state's sales and
2.10use tax statutes into compliance with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement; and
2.11WHEREAS, the Main Street Fairness Act will be introduced in the 111th Congress to grant
2.12those states that comply with the agreement the authority to require all sellers, regardless of
2.13nexus, to collect those states' sales and use taxes; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.14BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it calls upon the
2.15members of our congressional delegation to join as cosponsors of the Main Street Fairness Act
2.16(by Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming and Congressman William Delahunt of Massachusetts)
2.17and to support its swift adoption by the Congress of the United States.
2.18BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of the State of Minnesota urges
2.19President Barack Obama to sign the Main Street Fairness Act into law, upon its passage by the
2.20Congress.
2.21BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
2.22directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
2.23States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of
2.24the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, the
2.25chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives
2.26in Congress.
1.2memorializing the members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation to sponsor
1.3and support the Main Street Fairness Act.
1.4WHEREAS, the 1967 Bellas Hess and the 1992 Quill Supreme Court decisions denied
1.5states the authority to require the collection of sales and use taxes by out-of-state sellers that have
1.6no physical presence in the taxing state; and
1.7WHEREAS, the combined weight of the inability to collect sales and use taxes on remote
1.8sales through traditional carriers and the tax erosion due to electronic commerce threatens the
1.9future viability of the sales tax as a stable revenue source for state and local governments; and
1.10WHEREAS, the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee
1.11has estimated that states lost as much as $30 billion in 2008 because they were not able to collect
1.12taxes on remote sales, including sales on the Internet; and
1.13WHEREAS, the same study estimated that Minnesota lost as much as $456 million in 2008
1.14because of this inability to require remote sellers to collect our state's sales and use taxes; and
1.15WHEREAS, since 1999, state legislators, governors, local elected officials, state tax
1.16administrators, and representatives of the private sector have worked to develop a streamlined
1.17sales and use tax collection system for the 21st century; and
1.18WHEREAS, between 2001 and 2004, Minnesota and 39 other states enacted legislation
1.19expressing the intent of the state to simplify the state's sales and use tax collection systems and to
1.20participate in multistate discussions to finalize and ratify an interstate agreement to streamline
1.21collection of the states' sales and use taxes; and
2.1WHEREAS, on November 12, 2002, state delegates unanimously ratified the Streamlined
2.2Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which substantially simplifies state and local sales tax systems,
2.3removes the burdens to interstate commerce that were of concern to the Supreme Court, and
2.4protects state sovereignty; and
2.5WHEREAS, the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement provides the states with a
2.6blueprint to create a simplified and more uniform sales and use tax collection system that, when
2.7implemented, allows justification for Congress to overturn the Bellas Hess and Quill decisions;
2.8and
2.9WHEREAS, Minnesota enacted legislation beginning in 2001 to bring this state's sales and
2.10use tax statutes into compliance with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement; and
2.11WHEREAS, the Main Street Fairness Act will be introduced in the 111th Congress to grant
2.12those states that comply with the agreement the authority to require all sellers, regardless of
2.13nexus, to collect those states' sales and use taxes; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.14BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it calls upon the
2.15members of our congressional delegation to join as cosponsors of the Main Street Fairness Act
2.16(by Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming and Congressman William Delahunt of Massachusetts)
2.17and to support its swift adoption by the Congress of the United States.
2.18BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of the State of Minnesota urges
2.19President Barack Obama to sign the Main Street Fairness Act into law, upon its passage by the
2.20Congress.
2.21BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
2.22directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
2.23States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of
2.24the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, the
2.25chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives
2.26in Congress.