In its second week, the Alabama Legislature began moving legislation in earnest, including several bills of concern to retailers. Shifting the state’s August sales tax holiday to July could be debated soon in either chamber (HB132 / SB136). A bill…
Legislation authorizing wine and beer tastings inside grocery stores that have off-premises consumption licenses and at least $2 million in total annual sales await consideration by both House and Senate committees. HB134 by Rep. David Faulkner, R-Birmingham, is one of…
The Alabama Legislature gaveled in its 2017 regular session Tuesday with such weighty issues as prison reform, redistricting and finding money for Medicaid needing attention. More than 350 bills have been introduced so far, including ones calling on retailers to have…
Alabama’s political party caucuses this week introduced their legislative agendas for 2017. Alabama Retail is monitoring a Democratic proposal to require unitary combined reporting (SB67) and a Republican bill to make Medicaid fraud a Class C felony (SB85). The combined…
After years of work, rules took effect in October 2011 to limit debit swipes to a flat fee of 22 cents per transaction plus 0.05 percent of the purchase, or just under a quarter in most cases. Prior to passage…
The Alabama Legislature completed its 2016 regular session with two state budgets but no agreement on how to fully fund Medicaid or pay for needed prisons. A summary of the Alabama Legislature’s 2016 regular session, can be found in the Capitol Retail Report…
The Alabama Retail Association and other groups have received hundreds of complaints from business owners concerning abuse by for-profit auditing firms. Your association has shared those stories with legislators, but what resonates most is hearing directly from business owners. “Please…
Shortly before 4 p.m., Gov. Robert Bentley signed a law preempting Birmingham’s $10.10 minimum wage ordinance as well as other similar local ordinances in the future. The Alabama Senate voted 23-11 today for HB174, sending it to the governor. The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday, Feb….
The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday, Feb. 23, to increase the minimum wage in that city by almost 40 percent. With less than a day’s notice, one city in our state voted to increase what employers must pay their minimum-wage employees by…
The Alabama Legislature began its 2016 regular session Tuesday, Feb. 2. The Legislature made committee, rooming and phone changes right up to the session’s start and has more committee changes planned. The Alabama Retail Association each year prints a legislative…