Al Franken: “I rise today in support of the legislation that will level the playing field for brick-and-mortar retailers in Minnesota…”

“I rise today in support of the legislation that will level the playing field for brick-and-mortar retailers in Minnesota and across our Nation. I join my bipartisan group of friends, including Senators Durbin, Enzi, Heitkamp, and Alexander, in support of the legislation we are debating this week, the Marketplace Fairness Act. It will simply allow States to help their brick-and-mortar retailers, including the mom-and-pop shops on Main Street, stay competitive in a marketplace where online sales have become a fact of life. This legislation is a commonsense measure that brings our sales tax laws into the 21st century. In Minnesota the retail industry includes nearly half a million workers--about one in five jobs in our State--and those retailers need to compete on price and on service every single day. But the current sales tax system makes it impossible for them to compete on an even playing field. Take Michael Norby, who owns Norby's, a department store in downtown Detroit Lakes, MN, whom I met last August. His situation and what I have learned from him explains a lot about why I support this bill. Norby's has been in his family since 1906. Mr. Norby wants to compete with the big guys--with the Amazons and the Overstocks of the world. He said he can compete with anybody just as long as it is on a level playing field. He said: Once you bring those guys onto the same playing field as the rest of us, we will compete with them. But there is a problem. Mr.…”