Heidi Alexander: “we hear a lot about tax breaks and tax loopholes around the Senate. I wish to talk about a tax loophole, a big one, that…”

“we hear a lot about tax breaks and tax loopholes around the Senate. I wish to talk about a tax loophole, a big one, that is on its way out. It is a $23 billion tax loophole. It is not a loophole in the tax code of Washington, DC. It is a loophole in virtually every State in the country. It is a loophole that prefers some taxpayers over other taxpayers. It subsidizes some businesses over other businesses. Because of that loophole, it causes tax rates in States to be higher, and it causes States to have less money to fund the universities or the State parks or the schools or the other expenses that are legitimate in the operation of a State. I say it is a tax loophole that is on its way out because after 10 years, Senator Enzi of Wyoming and Senator Durbin of Illinois have produced a piece of legislation that is rare in Washington, DC. It is only 10 pages long. It is very simple. It is a States rights piece of legislation that gives each State the right to decide for itself how to collect its State sales tax from everybody who owes it, whether that person buys a pair of cowboy boots in Nashville or whether that person buys a pair of cowboy boots online. Senator Enzi and Senator Durbin introduced the Marketplace Fairness Act 4 weeks ago. It has five Republican sponsors and five Democratic sponsors. I am one of those sponsors. This is the bill that solves the problem of the online sales tax loophole, the one I described a little earlier.…”