The Senate on Monday gave easy, bipartisan approval to a bill that would push internet retailers to collect and remit sales taxes for 45 states, but the bill's future remained unclear in the House.
The vote was 69-27, with most of the opposition coming from Republicans in the Senate, as the plan divided GOP Senators.
"Internet Sales Tax that passed Senate is a terrible idea," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Twitter after the vote, as he labeled it a "money grab that will hurt economic growth."
"Now we must get House to defeat it," Rubio added. (To see how your Senators voted, check the tally here.
But like in the Senate, Republicans seem divided on the plan in the House, as some back Rubio, while others say this is a problem that needs to be fixed by Congress.
"After twenty years, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel for our brick-and-mortar businesses, and today’s bipartisan Senate vote to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act has given even more momentum to close this tax loophole once and for all," said Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR).
Judging from the messages I was getting from listeners and readers on Monday night, there is a lot of confusion about what this bill does and does not do, so let's roll through a few things.
The bill is not a federal tax bill - it basically is an effort to force states to simplify their sales tax regimes and make it easier for internet retailers (who are out of state) to collect and remit those state sales taxes.
Right now, most internet purchases don't have to deal with state sales taxes, which means lower prices for many consumers.
"No wonder the internet created such an economic boom," one listener wrote me on Monday.
Most people probably don't realize that if you do buy something on the web and don't pay state sales tax, you probably are supposed to do it on your own - but obviously most people do not.
For now, the issue hasn't really been on the radar of GOP leaders in the House; there are 65 co-sponsors of the bill - here's the list, which includes members of both parties:
Rep Amodei, Mark E. [NV-2]
Rep Bachus, Spencer [AL-6]
Rep Barletta, Lou [PA-11]
Rep Barton, Joe [TX-6]
Rep Capuano, Michael E. [MA-7]
Rep Chu, Judy [CA-27]
Rep Cicilline, David N. [RI-1]
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9]
Rep Conaway, K. Michael [TX-11]
Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-13]
Rep Cooper, Jim [TN-5]
Rep Crawford, Eric A. "Rick" [AR-1]
Rep Crenshaw, Ander [FL-4]
Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7]
Rep DelBene, Suzan K. [WA-1]
Rep Dent, Charles W. [PA-15]
Rep Deutch, Theodore E. [FL-21]
Rep Diaz-Balart, Mario [FL-25]
Rep Duckworth, Tammy [IL-8]
Rep Duncan, John J., Jr. [TN-2]
Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5]
Rep Ellmers, Renee L. [NC-2]
Rep Foster, Bill [IL-11]
Rep Gibson, Christopher P. [NY-19]
Rep Griffin, Tim [AR-2]
Rep Griffith, H. Morgan [VA-9]
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-3]
Rep Grimm, Michael G. [NY-11]
Rep Horsford, Steven A. [NV-4]
Rep Huffman, Jared [CA-2]
Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [TX-30]
Rep Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [GA-4]
Rep Joyce, David P. [OH-14]
Rep Kilmer, Derek [WA-6]
Rep Langevin, James R. [RI-2]
Rep Larsen, Rick [WA-2]
Rep Larson, John B. [CT-1]
Rep Lowenthal, Alan S. [CA-47]
Rep McCollum, Betty [MN-4]
Rep Noem, Kristi L. [SD]
Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC]
Rep Pingree, Chellie [ME-1]
Rep Pocan, Mark [WI-2]
Rep Poe, Ted [TX-2]
Rep Quigley, Mike [IL-5]
Rep Rigell, E. Scott [VA-2]
Rep Ross, Dennis A. [FL-15]
Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1]
Rep Sanchez, Linda T. [CA-38]
Rep Sanchez, Loretta [CA-46]
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9]
Rep Schock, Aaron [IL-18]
Rep Schwartz, Allyson Y. [PA-13]
Rep Scott, Austin [GA-8]
Rep Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [VA-3]
Rep Sinema, Kyrsten [AZ-9]
Rep Smith, Adam [WA-9]
Rep Speier, Jackie [CA-14]
Rep Stivers, Steve [OH-15]
Rep Tsongas, Niki [MA-3]
Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8]
Rep Veasey, Marc A. [TX-33]
Rep Welch, Peter [VT]
Rep Wilson, Frederica S. [FL-24]
Rep Young, Todd C. [IN-9]
