Senate May Vote on Sales Tax Fairness Bill as Soon as Next Week

The U.S. Senate may vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 (S.336) as early as next week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to bring the bill directly to the floor for a vote without first referring it to the Senate Finance Committee, as reported by The Hill [1]. Sen. Reid filed a motion on April 16 to initiate the process of putting the bill on the Senate calendar.

If passed, S.336 would give states the right to require remote retailers that do more than $1 million in out-of-state sales to collect and remit sales tax to the state. On March 22, the Marketplace Fairness Act received overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate when put to a vote as an amendment to the Senate budget resolution [2]. The amendment passed by a vote of 75-24.

“Booksellers and other Main Street retailers applaud Sen. Reid for moving to bring this important bill to the floor for a vote,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher.  “This is very positive news for all those who have been campaigning for sales tax fairness. It is clear from the Senate vote in late March that there is significant bipartisan support for the Marketplace Fairness Act, and the time has come to put sales tax fairness up for a vote.”

By bringing the bill directly to the Senate floor, Sen. Reid would circumvent the Senate Finance Committee and its chair, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), who is said to have concerns regarding the bill and who voted “No” in March on the sales tax fairness budget resolution amendment.

Teicher reminded booksellers of the importance of outreach to their senators in the days leading up to a possible vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act.

ABA is asking booksellers to contact their senators and, if their senator(s) voted in support of the sales tax fairness amendment, to adapt the “Thank You” letter under the appropriate state and send it to their senator(s). If the senator(s) voted “No,” booksellers are encouraged to adapt the “Please Support S.336” template letter under the appropriate state. The letters can be found in in ABA’s E-Fairness Action Kit [3].

To find out if your senator voted yes or no on S.336, see below.

ROLL CALL

Grouped by Home State

Alabama:
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea

Alaska:
Begich (D-AK), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Nay

Arizona:
Flake (R-AZ), Nay
McCain (R-AZ), Yea

Arkansas:
Boozman (R-AR), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea

California:
Boxer (D-CA), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea

Colorado:
Bennet (D-CO), Yea
Udall (D-CO), Yea

Connecticut:
Blumenthal (D-CT), Yea
Murphy (D-CT), Yea

Delaware:
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Coons (D-DE), Yea

Florida:
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Rubio (R-FL), Nay

Georgia:
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Yea

Hawaii:
Hirono (D-HI), Yea
Schatz (D-HI), Yea

Idaho:
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Risch (R-ID), Yea

Illinois:
Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Kirk (R-IL), Yea

Indiana:
Coats (R-IN), Nay   
Donnelly (D-IN), Yea

Iowa:
Grassley (R-IA), Nay
Harkin (D-IA), Yea

Kansas:
Moran (R-KS), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Nay

Kentucky:
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Paul (R-KY), Nay

Louisiana:
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Nay

Maine:
Collins (R-ME), Yea
King (I-ME), Yea

Maryland:
Cardin (D-MD), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Yea

Massachusetts:
Cowan (D-MA), Yea
Warren (D-MA), Yea

Michigan:
Levin (D-MI), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea

Minnesota:
Franken (D-MN), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea

Mississippi
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Wicker (R-MS), Yea

Missouri:
Blunt (R-MO), Yea
McCaskill (D-MO), Yea

Montana:
Baucus (D-MT), Nay
Tester (D-MT), Nay

Nebraska:
Fischer (R-NE), Yea
Johanns (R-NE), Yea

Nevada:
Heller (R-NV), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Yea

New Hampshire:
Ayotte (R-NH), Nay
Shaheen (D-NH), Nay

New Jersey:
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Not Voting
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea

New Mexico:
Heinrich (D-NM), Yea
Udall (D-NM), Yea

New York:
Gillibrand (D-NY), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Yea

North Carolina:
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Hagan (D-NC), Yea

North Dakota:
Heitkamp (D-ND), Yea
Hoeven (R-ND), Yea

Ohio:
Brown (D-OH), Yea
Portman (R-OH), Yea

Oklahoma:
Coburn (R-OK), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay

Oregon:
Merkley (D-OR), Nay
Wyden (D-OR), Nay

Pennsylvania:
Casey (D-PA), Yea
Toomey (R-PA), Nay

Rhode Island:
Reed (D-RI), Yea
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea

South Carolina:
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Scott (R-SC), Nay

South Dakota:
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Yea

Tennessee:
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Corker (R-TN), Yea

Texas:
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Cruz (R-TX), Nay

Utah:
Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Lee (R-UT), Nay

Vermont:
Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Sanders (I-VT), Yea

Virginia:
Kaine (D-VA), Yea
Warner (D-VA), Yea

Washington:
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Yea

West Virginia:
Manchin (D-WV), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea

Wisconsin:
Baldwin (D-WI), Yea
Johnson (R-WI), Yea

Wyoming:
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Yea