FRANCHISE RELATIONS When the Alabama Legislature returns from its spring break, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will consider legislation intended to protect franchisees from unfair treatment by franchisors. The legislation seeks to prevent fraud, unfair business practices and unfair competition….
Retail and restaurant renovations and investment will benefit from bipartisan legislation already before the U.S. Senate and soon to be introduced in the House. S. 803, the Restoring Investments in Improvements Act, corrects a typo in the 2017 Tax Cuts…
This week, the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee approved HB46 by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, which would allow bars to make up to 5-gallon batches of infused liquor for on-premises consumption. The bill now goes to the full House…
Several bills have been introduced in the 2019 regular session to ban and set penalties for telephone solicitors who intentionally use misleading caller identification information. A coalition, including the Alabama Retail Association, worked to amend the first of those bills…
The Alabama Legislature’s 2019 regular session begins March 5, one week from today. Slightly more than a quarter of the 140 individuals who will govern us over the next four years will be brand new to their jobs. More than…
The Alabama Retail Association opposes federal legislation that calls for a delay in the implementation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in South Dakota vs. Wayfair Inc. The high court’s June 21 decision overturned a requirement that retailers be “physically…
In its 2018 regular session, the Alabama Legislature again revised the state’s voluntary use tax program to further level the playing field between brick-and-mortar and online-only retailers. Stay tuned for more on April 17, when the U.S. Supreme Court delves…
Online marketplaces will either have to remit use tax or report sales made to Alabama consumers through third-party vendors under the latest revision to Alabama’s Simplified Seller Use Tax. Act No. 2018-539 by Rep. Rod Scott, D-Fairfield, and Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Daphne, takes…
More than 20 local alcohol bills became law in 2018. SUNDAY SALES Sunday sales can be permitted by resolution, ordinance, a majority vote of the governing body or referendum. These cities and counties received state legislative permission in 2018 to…
As it did in 2017, legislation to reduce business license costs specifically for pharmacists did not make it through the legislative process in 2018. That bill or broader business license reform could return in 2019. Other legislation that died in…