Friday, January 31, 2014
Senate Briefly Debates, Carries Over Independent Tax Appeals
Retail-supported legislation to centralize Alabama’s tax appeal process and make that process independent of taxing authorities made it onto Alabama Senate agenda Thursday in a week punctuated by a winter storm. While the Senate agreed Thursday to hear the bill before it debates the state budgets and approved a committee amendment, it did not take a vote on the bill itself. Hopefully, the carried-over legislation will resurface on a special order calendar next week.
The Business Associations’ Tax Coalition (BATC), a coalition of 26 business trade associations chaired by Alabama Retail President Rick Brown, delivered letters Thursday to all 35 senators before the Senate came into session urging lawmakers to support HB105 by Rep. Paul DeMarco, R-Homewood.
“This critical piece of legislation ensures individuals and businesses who have a disagreement about a tax assessment can go to an independent and impartial arbiter for a decision,” Sen. Bryan Taylor (pictured), R-Prattville, the sponsor of the Senate companion SB74, told senators.
Ask your senator to support the Alabama Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights II, which is a major plank in the Alabama Retail Associations’ 2014 Legislative Agenda.
Because the bill has been amended since Jan. 16 when the House overwhelmingly approved it , it will have to go back to the House for concurrence.
For details of the landmark legislation that updates the 1992 Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, go to BATC Summary of the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights II.
WINTER STORM
Winter Storm Interrupts Flow of Legislation;
Retailers Rise to the Challenge
A winter snow and ice storm this week that covered a greater area of the state than expected claimed five lives, left cars stranded on major roadways in the state’s largest city, caused students to spend the night with their teachers at school and ate up three legislative days during which Alabama lawmakers accomplished a minimal amount of the work on their agendas. When it returns Tuesday, the Alabama Legislature will have completed a third of its 2014 session.
The Alabama House failed to have a quorum Tuesday; neither chamber met Wednesday although a legislative day had to be absorbed; and both met for a short time Thursday.
While lawmakers struggled to get to the State House to meet, Alabama retailers were providing food and shelter for hundreds of Alabamians stranded by the storm. Home Depot kept open 26 stores in Alabama and Georgia overnight Tuesday to provide shelter for motorists who couldn’t get home. Moe’s Original Bar B Que in Mobile treated 250 emergency personnel to free food. A Chick-fil-A owner and his staff on U.S. 280 distributed chicken sandwiches Tuesday and chicken biscuits on Wednesday to motorists who spent the night in their cars. Mantooth Interiors in Homewood had 10 employees and stranded friends sleeping in their shop Tuesday night. Birmingham’s Graphics Wearhouse owners camped out in their warehouse and had a stranded Wisconsin couple and their two dogs as guests from Tuesday to late Thursday morning.
Dr. Zenko Hrynkiw, a neurosurgeon who also happens to be an Alabama Retail Association member, walked more than six miles to perform emergency surgery for a traumatic brain injury.
Many more stories of the heroics and generosity of our members and Alabama’s retail community will no doubt come to light in the coming days. Thanks for all you did to keep Alabama going.
Our state remains under a state of emergency, which means the state’s price gouging law is in effect. When disasters strikes, visit the Emergency Preparedness page of the Alabama Retail Association’s website to get the latest updates relevant to retailers.
In a related development, Rep. Mac Buttram, R-Cullman, introduced legislation this week, HB364, which extends Alabama’s Good Samaritan Law to those who offer a safe place in times of severe weather. The bill would give those individuals and entities immunity from civil damages as long as they were acting in good faith.
UNEMPLOYMENT
House Approves Bill Encouraging
Unemployed to Work Part Time
On a vote of 74-9, the Alabama House on Thursday approved legislation that would allow the unemployed to earn some money without reducing their unemployment benefits. HB88 by Rep. Jack Williams (pictured), R-Birmingham, would alter the formula for calculating the individual weekly unemployment benefit payment if the beneficiary is earning money, either through forced hours reduction or a part-time job.
According to the Legislative Fiscal Office, the bill will increase the annual obligations of the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund by an estimated $980,000. The benefits program is funded primarily by employer contributions. Williams said the fund, which stands at $220 million currently, could absorb that cost. When the unemployment trust fund gets too low, businesses that pay into the fund get an automatic tax increase. Since 2010, the last automatic unemployment tax increase, employers have paid into the fund at the highest unemployment compensation tax rate possible, Schedule D.
The Labor-Department-requested bill allows earnings up to one third of the weekly benefit. Any money earned beyond that level would result in that dollar amount reduction in the unemployment benefit. The maximum weekly unemployment benefit in Alabama is $265, so the bill would allow $88.33 in earnings before any penalty would be taken from that maximum benefit. Since 1963, the amount an unemployment beneficiary could earn weekly without penalty to their benefits has been $15, Williams said.
LEGAL
Senate Votes to Discourage Patent Trolling
On a vote of 20-1 Thursday, the Alabama Senate approved SB121 by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, which seeks to combat patent trolling, or asserting a claim of patent infringement in bad faith. The bill is on the House Technology and Research Committee agenda for consideration Wednesday.
Often “trolls” will purchase a patent from a bankrupt firm, then sue another company claiming that its product infringes on the purchased patent. These so-called trolls initially targeted conventional technology companies, but now are suing brick-and-mortar businesses such as restaurants, supermarkets, airlines, casinos and real estate agents. Orr called the practice “extorting money in a quasi-fradulent manner.” Orr’s bill, which is patterned after similar legislation adopted in Vermont last year, doesn’t restrict the filing of legitimate patent infringement claims.
Congress also has taken up the issue. In December, the U.S. House overwhelmingly approved the Innovation Act, H.R. 3309, which encourages judges hearing patent cases to award fees to the winner of an infringement lawsuit. Similar legislation, S. 1720, the Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013, also has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Barack Obama urged Congress to pass legislation to rein in patent trolls.
TOBACCO
Senate Carries Over Statewide Smoking Ban
The Alabama Senate quickly snuffed out discussion Thursday on Sen. Vivian Figures’ statewide smoking ban, SB168, although the legislation, which the Mobile Democrat has pushed for 16 straight years, could resurface next week. The Senate carried over the legislation, which bans smoking statewide in any workplace, public building or public place with exemptions for existing private clubs, bars, cigar bars, retail tobacco stores and certain outdoor areas.
TAXES AND FEES
Capital Loss Carry Forward, Adjusted Gross Income and
Health Savings Account Exemption Back on Panel Agenda
Because of treacherous driving conditions, the Legislature’s Wednesday committee meetings were canceled. Three tax bills that were to be debated this week in the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee are back on the agenda for next week:
- SB5 by Sen. Slade Blackwell, R-Birmingham, which would allow an Alabama taxpayer who incurs a capital loss to carry that loss forward for state income tax purposes for three years from the year in which the loss was incurred. Currently, an Alabama resident who incurs a capital loss may deduct the loss only in the year in which the loss is incurred.
- SB51 by Sen. Tammy Irons, D-Florence, which says any taxpayer with an adjusted gross income of more than the sum of the standard deduction and the personal exemption for their filing status must file a tax return. Currently, taxpayers have to file a return if their adjusted gross income is more than $1,875 for single taxpayers and more than $3,750 for married filers.
- SB71 by Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville, which would allow health savings account contributions to be exempt from state income tax beginning Jan. 1, 2015. This bill would become effective three months after it becomes law. The committee will conduct a public hearing on the bill.
Bill Clarifies Prepaid Cellular Service Subject to Sales Tax
Thursday, Rep. Bill Poole introduced HB 373, which modernizes sales tax law related to prepaid cellular services. Under existing law, prepaid calling cards and prepaid authorization numbers are deemed as tangible property and thus subject to sales tax. A June 2013 decision by Alabama’s chief administrative law judge, Bill Thompson, reiterated this law, but further pointed out there was no definition of prepaid telephone services in state law and ruled prepaid services loaded on countertop terminals are subject to sales tax. This bill adds definitions that update the law to today’s technology. The bill has been assigned to the House Ways and Means Education Committee.
ALCOHOL
House OKs Wet Community Development Districts/Cities
On a vote of 67-12-5 Thursday, the Alabama House approved HB89 by Rep. Jamie Ison, R-Mobile, which would allow the state’s community development districts to remain wet if the district already has the authority to sell alcohol and becomes a municipality, even if the newly incorporated city does not have the 1,000 residents required by state law to be a wet municipality. Community development districts include qualifying golf and marina developments.
Panel to Consider Revision to Wine Doggie Bag Law
On Wednesday, the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee will consider HB81 by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, which spells out where and how a recorked or resealed bottle of wine may be transported legally based on the type of storage space in a vehicle. On a vote of 26-1 Jan. 23, the Alabama Senate approved the Senate companion, SB 56 by Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville. Alabama and 31 other states have to pass similar legislation to bring state law in line with federal language so the state can continue to receive federal transportation money, Sanford said. The legislation amends a 2012 law the two lawmakers sponsored that allows Alabama restaurant patrons to put the cork back in an unfinished bottle of wine and take it home. The 2012 law permits only one opened bottle of wine to be carried out of a properly licensed establishment, if the bottle has been recorked and resealed in a bag. The legislation amends the law to specify that the bottle must be placed a locked glove compartment; in a storage or cargo compartment in the bed of a pickup truck or in a locked case not readily accessible behind the front seat of a pickup truck; or in the area behind the last upright seat of any vehicle that does not have a trunk. The law will continue to require the seller to provide the customer with a dated receipt for the resealed wine bottle.
RECYCLABLES
Bills Would Prohibit Labeling Non-Recyclable Plastics
as Compostable or Biodegradable
Sen. Jimmy Holley, R-Elba, and Rep. Alan Boothe, R-Troy, this week introduced legislation that requires biodegradable plastic containers to meet standards for compostable products and be clearly labeled to prevent contamination of recyclable plastic containers. The legislation prohibits plastic containers that don’t meet U.S. Federal Trade Commission guidelines for environmental marketing claims from being labeled as degradable, biodegradable or compostable unless those containers also are labeled in the same “color, contrast, font and size” as “Not Recyclable, Do Not Recyle.” The companion bills have an effective date of July 1, 2015. Wednesday, the House Commerce and Small Business Committee is scheduled to consider HB375, while the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will take up SB284.
SPECIAL ELECTIONS
Governor Reschedules Three Special Elections
Severe winter weather and a state of emergency prompted Gov. Robert Bentley to move three House of Representatives special legislative elections from this Tuesday to next Tuesday.
The elections now scheduled for Feb. 4 are in House District 104 in Mobile County where Republican Margie Wilcox faces Democrat Stephen P. Carr in a special general election; House District 31 in Elmore and Coosa counties where two Republicans, Mike Holmes and Jimmy Collier, face off in a GOP primary runoff ; and House District 53 in Jefferson County where Democrats Arthur Shores Lee and Anthony ‘Alann’ Johnson are on the Democratic Party primary runoff ballot. The winners in the District 104 and 31 races will immediately fill those legislative vacancies. The winner in the House District 53 race will face a Republican opponent in the spring.
>> See Alabama Retail’s Election Calendar
MEDICAID
Montgomery Site of First Meeting
on Regional Care Organizations
The Alabama Medicaid Agency has scheduled a series of regional meetings for physicians, hospital officials and other interested parties who want to know more about Alabama Medicaid’s plans to implement regional care organizations. The one-hour sessions will update participants on the progress the agency has made in complying with state legislation enacted in May 2013 to better control costs while improving patient care, while leaving the majority of the time for participants’ questions and comments.
The first of the meetings planned at five locations during February and March will be next week in Montgomery:
- 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 4: Alabama Medicaid Agency Auditorium, Second Floor, 501 Dexter Ave., Montgomery, 36104. Use second floor customer service center entrance on Monroe Street (back of building).
- 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 20: Calhoun Community College, Decatur Campus, Auditorium, Room 109, Health Sciences Building, 6250 U.S. 31 N., Tanner, 35671
- Noon, Thursday, Feb. 27: Calvary Baptist Church, Annex Building, 1121 Paul W Bryant Dr., Tuscaloosa, 35401. The annex is located on NW corner of Bryant Drive and 12th Avenue.
- 6 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 27: Birmingham. Location to be determined.
- 5:30 p.m., Thursday, March 6: Auditorium, Mobile Government Plaza, 205 Government St., Mobile.
Reservations are not required. An online session will be scheduled in March for those unable to attend in person.
>> More information on regional care organizations
NEXT LEGISLATIVE DAY
The 10th legislative day of the Alabama Legislature’s 2014 regular session is Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Alabama House of Representatives meets at 1 p.m. The Senate meets at 2 p.m.
FEDERAL
2014 is Year for E-Fairness: Stand Up for Main Street
and Sign Letter to U.S. House Judiciary Chairman
By Valentine’s Day, the Alliance for Main Street Fairness and the Marketplace Fairness Coalition needs thousands of small-business owners to sign onto a letter to U.S. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte supporting e-fairness.
“As business owners who are active in the community, we are dedicated to closing the online sales tax loophole that hurts community-based businesses, and we are calling on Congress to finally settle this issue and stand up for a free marketplace in which all businesses are given a honest chance to compete,” the letter states.
The Alabama Retail Association urges its members to add your name to the nationwide push to get the Marketplace Fairness Act approved in 2014. Join the enormous groundswell of support for a level playing field for all retailers when it comes to sales tax collection. Your signature will help amplify the voice of retail that much more.
Earlier this week, eBay and Overstock weren’t handing out free food and water to stranded motorists and giving shelter to employees and customers. Don’t let gigantic, out-of-state, online-only retailers continue to have a federally sanctioned tax advantage over Main Street retailers.
