Jan Teague

President/CEO

360.943.9198, ext. 19

jteague@retailassociation.org

Mark Johnson

Vice President of Government Affairs

360.943.9198, ext. 15

mark.johnson@retailassociation.org

Tammie Hetrick

Vice President of Retail Services (RASI)

360.943.9198, ext. 13

tammie@retailassociationservices.com  

Jim Szymanski

ACTION ALERT!

Contact your legislators to defeat state tax increases

WRA members are strongly urged to contact their state legislators and ask them to defeat House Bill 2038, which would repeal several tax and investment incentives and extend other taxes scheduled to expire.

The sales tax exemption for non-residents, upon which some retailers depend for a significant portion of their annual sales, is among the targets of the bill sponsored by Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle. Other parts of the bill objectionable to WRA include a repeal on a sales tax exemption on bottled water and an increased tax on certain craft beers brewed in Washington State.

All of these ideas would raise prices, threaten sales and slow the economic recovery from the most severe state economic slowdown since The Depression.

If you know your legislator, please leave a message at the Legislative hotline, 800-562-6000. Or, contact the legislature  and type in your address to learn who represents you and how to contact them by telephone or e-mail.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn on Sunday, so please act quickly.

Legislators must save the sales tax exemption

By Jan Teague, President/CEO

As the final days of the regular 2013 legislative session wind down, retailers have their sights firmly fixed on preserving the state's non-resident sales tax exemption.

Put simply, it's not only important to retailers, it's important to the state.

The Senate's spending plan keeps the incentive for many out-of-state residents to shop here. Along the Oregon border, some businesses tell us they reap fully 40 percent of their annual revenues because of this incentive. Were it to be taken away, as in the House tax proposal, retailers tell us far fewer sales would be made and layoffs surely would result.

Consumer spending is critical in our state. It's good for state coffers and especially for our education system, where the courts have ordered us to spend more to meet the state's constitutional obligations.

The problem with the current legislative debate goes deeper than simply sales volume at a collection of border businesses. Visitors lured here by the incentive save money on big ticket items and then spend more at various support services such as restaurants and gasoline stations. Removing the exemption might very well also remove the secondary spending that occurs because of the incentive.

Our Oregon neighbors, who pay no sales taxes, are keeping an eye on this debate as well. They know the business advantage of not charging sales taxes and they're advertising it in television commercials and on the Internet, including YouTube.

Please click on the two links above. They're used to lure consumers to shop in sales-tax-free Portland and one of the ads covers the potential ripple effects of offering shoppers the sales tax incentive.

Some in the legislature would have you believe that Washington's advantage because of the incentive has outlived its course and needs to be forsaken. Don't be fooled.

Look no farther than Oregon where merchants use the power of this incentive to turn tire kickers into spenders.

In its quest to raise more revenue, the legislature needs to remove its blinders and preserve the sales tax incentive. Otherwise, it will be turning spenders into tire kickers.

That's a price this state can't afford to pay.

Bill signings start as session winds down

Governor signs beer, wine tasting bill

By Mark Johnson, VP Government Affairs

It's currently unclear whether the legislature will complete the 2013 session by the scheduled adjournment on Sunday.

Regardless, bills have started arriving at the Governor's office.  Now he has to decide if he will sign or veto them or exercise a partial veto.  Bill action commenced Tuesday and I am happy to report that Gov. Inslee signed one of WRA's own, Senate Bill 5517 , which provides for beer and wine tastings at licensed retail locations around the state.

I purposely used the term "action" rather than signing.  The Governor usually doesn't tell you if he/she plans to sign a bill or veto it until the actual ceremony.  However, often times the staff will quietly call stakeholders out of courtesy if this is going to happen to avoid any uncomfortable situations. 

Once session concludes, the Governor has 20 days to decide what to do with all the bills that pass.  Usually about 200-300 bills pass during a session.  If the Governor decides not to take action within the 20 days, a bill becomes law automatically.  We at WRA are busy sending letters of support to the Governor on bills we like and letters of opposition on bills we don't like and want all or partially vetoed.  We also meet with the Governor's staff and in some cases the Governor himself.  In our state, the Governor has section veto authority, so a Governor can gut a bill without actually vetoing the whole thing.

Usually bill action is a time of celebration and excitement.  You get your picture taken with the Governor and get a ceremonial signing pen.  WRA is working hard to ensure our members have more cause to celebrate.

Notice to self-insured WRA members

Tammie Hetrick, WRA's Vice President of Retail Services, has an important reminder for self-insured members.

It's important to regularly check the state's website for independent medical exams to ensure that doctors are approved to perform medical examinations.

L&I requires users to check www.imes.lni.wa.gov rather than expecting to receive status reports by traditional mail. Failure to check whether a doctor is approved via the website could lead to a report that does not have the credibility needed as an independent report. 

This is not to be confused with the new Provider Network.  Doctors can be registered to perform independent medical examinations and not be in the provider network.  Checking the website above assures that you are getting a currently registered doctor to perform Independent Medical Examinations.

If you have any questions about this, contact Tammie Hetrick at 360-943-9198, Ext. 13 or at Tammie@retailassociation.org. 

Legislature is down to the wire

With just a few days to go before Sunday's scheduled adjournment for the 2013 legislative session, several WRA bills are hanging in the balance.

Throughout most of the session, the Democrat-controlled House and Majority Coalition in the more conservative Senate have disagreed whether tax increases will be necessary in the next state budget. The Senate has approved a budget without tax increases while the House has insisted new taxes are necessary.

It may be hardest to predict outcomes in the legislature this week. It remains uncertain whether the Legislature will adjourn on Sunday or if Gov. Inslee will need to call lawmakers back for up to a 30-day special session to finish their work.

Regardless, here is a summary of the status of bills most important to WRA:

**HB 2038, would impose several new taxes and remove tax and investment incentives favored by WRA. In jeopardy are the non-resident sales tax exemption offered by the state; also threatened are new taxes on bottled water and beer. WRA urges members to contact state legislators to defeat this bill. If you know your legislator, please leave a message at the Legislative hotline, 800-562-6000. Or, contact legislature and type in your address to learn who represents you and how to contact them by telephone or e-mail.

**SB 5396, liquor sampling. The bill would allow licensed liquor retailers to host limited tastings on their premises. It is awaiting signature by the Governor.

**SB 5149, pharmacy robberies. This would increase possible penalties for pharmacy robbers and has gone to the Governor for his signature into law.

WRA commentary on Inslee's new taxes published online

WRA President/CEO Jan Teague has authored an opinion piece calling into question Gov. Jay Inslee's proposal to repeal a non-resident sales tax exemption currently offered in Washington State.

Teague wrote that a repeal is bad policy that would damage economic development and threaten retail jobs prior to the retail industry recovering from the recession. State Employment Security data show there are approximately 6,200 fewer retail jobs in the state compared with January, 2008.

In some cases, repealing the exemptions would add hundreds of dollars of cost to the price of more expensive items and discourage sales in Washington State, particularly for small Southwest Washington businesses along the border with Oregon, Teague wrote.

Visit Washington State Wire to read Jan's article. The Washington Research Council also posted Jan's article on its website. 

WRA co-sponsors two free webinars this year

WRA is offering members two free webinars this year in cooperation with the Council of State Retail Associations.

To register ahead of time, click on the following links:

*How small retailers can recognize and prevent shoplifting, on May 21 - 6:30 a.m. MT / 5:30 a.m. PT (Webinar 1) or 9:30 a.m. MT / 8:30 a.m. PT (Webinar 2)

*Intermediate Mobile and Social Media Marketing, on June 27 -  6:30 a.m. MT / 5:30 a.m. PT (Webinar 1) or  9:30 a.m. MT / 8:30 a.m. PT (Webinar 2).

Please contact Jan Teague, WRA's President/CEO, if you have questions at 360-943-9198, Ext. 19 or a jteague@retailassociation.org.

Retail cameras important in Boston Marathon bombings, other crimes

The tragic bombings at the Boston Marathon last week brought to light the important role that the retail industry plays in crime fighting.

Video from Boston's Lord and Taylor store cameras was among the footage investigators examined in working to identify suspects.

In the January, 2011 shooting of former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords outside a Safeway supermarket, video of the incident was captured on the store's cameras and helped in the investigation.

Retail surveillance most often captures shoppers doing nothing wrong. But store cameras have helped in cases involving child abductions, robberies, drug deals, car thefts and purse snatchings, experts say. Some of the equipment is capable of capturing images as far as a half mile away.

"This is a really important aspect of what retailing does," Rich Mellor, Vice President of Loss Prevention for the National Retail Federation, told USA Today. "There are crimes that are solved every day as a result of their video equipment."

Visit USA Today to read more about this.

Source: USA Today

Eyman seeks constitutional amendment to rein in taxes

Initiative promoter Tim Eyman has announced plans to arrange a ballot measure aimed at limiting new taxes to one year.

Eyman's action follows a state Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that the two-thirds majority for Legislature approval of new taxes, authorized by Initiative 1185, was unconstitutional. The court recommended a state constitutional change to legally achieve the higher two-thirds majority standard.

According to news reports, if approved by voters in an election next year, Eyman's proposal would limit the time period of all tax increases, all tax extensions and repeals of tax exemptions; require all legislators' votes on tax increases to be noted in state voters' pamphlets; and eliminate these requirements when the Legislatures agrees to send a two-thirds majority for tax matter ballot to a public referendum.

WRA favors the two-thirds requirement because it improves the chances that retailers will be protected from burdensome new taxes that threaten jobs and business livelihoods, and it promotes bipartisan agreement when approving state budgets.

Eyman and his organizers will need to collect more than 300,000 signatures of registered state voters to qualify his proposal to appear on a ballot next year. Visit Crosscut to read more about this.

Sources: Crosscut, Capitol Record blog

WRA urges retailers to reject court settlement on swipe fees

WRA President/CEO Jan Teague is asking members to reject a proposed court settlement with Visa and MasterCard regarding fees they charge retailers who do business with those creditors.

Retailers should have received a 27-page notice from Visa and MasterCard regarding a lower court decision on transaction fees. The National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association and WRA consider it a bad settlement and are urging retailers to reject the terms before a May 28, 2013 court deadline for objecting to the deal.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association has provided valuable frequently asked questions about opting out of the settlement. Please visit http://www.rila.org/enterprise/Documents/INTERCHANGE%20Settlement%20Summary%20RILA%203-5-13.docx to review that document.

According to the settlement, in exchange for minor financial relief for fees paid, retailers would waive all rights to further litigation against Visa and MasterCard.

The settlement notice includes a form Teague urged members to fill out stating that they object to the settlement. By opting out the settlement, retailers lend weight to attempts to negotiate terms more favorable to retailers.

At a minimum, WRA is asking that retailers submit a letter of objection that will help when the appeal is heard on the terms of the settlement this fall. The letter of objection can be submitted and will not change a retailer's settlement payment should a retailer want to settle now.

It must be mailed to Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement, P.O. Box 2350, Portland, Oregon 92708-2350 and postmarked by May 28. Retailers are urged to keep a copy of the opt out letter for their records.

More state spending doesn't translate to educational gains, new research shows

Though the state spent significantly more on education during the terms of Gov. Christine Gregoire, the results showed no significant gains in student achievement, according to a new Washington Policy Center analysis released last week.

The report is significant as the Legislature debates whether to increase taxes to spend more on education. A Senate budget proposal spends more on education without raising taxes, while a House proposal would spend more by raising taxes.

WRA opposes raising taxes, which discourage spending and endanger the livelihoods of retailers while slowing the economic recovery through layoffs.

Visit the Washington Policy Center  to read its report on education spending.

WRA shipping service redesigns, improves websites

Our national partner, PartnerShip, unveiled a new company website and an improved, separate shipping website.

The new company website includes new content, live chat, an employee directory and the ability to buy discounted shipping supplies. The new shipping site has streamlined the enrollment process.

As a WRA member, you could begin saving up to 27 percent on select FedEx shipping services by joining a new shipping service free of charge.

And considering new annual shipping rate increases from major carriers, it's a good time to check out WRA's agreement with PartnerShip, a national freight management company committed to reducing shipping costs particularly for small businesses.

Savings from the new shipping program can, of course, help you to offset the cost of your WRA membership dues.

The program is available to all WRA members with no minimum shipping requirements or obligations. Enrolled customers can save up to 27 percent on select FedEx services and at least 70 percent on less-than-truckload freight shipments arranged through PartnerShip.

"The new WRA Shipping Program makes a great addition to our menu of services designed to save our members money," said WRA President/CEO Jan Teague. "This program is clearly advantageous to all WRA members."

NRF seeking retail case studies

The National Retail Federation has launched a publicity campaign and is seeking suggestions from members about how to correct misconceptions about the industry.

If you have a positive story to tell about retail's impact on your community and on innovation, send the idea to thisisretail@nrf.com. 

In a letter to U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner, NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said people often fail to recognize the retail industry's impact on careers, community and innovation. The ThisIsRetail campaign aims to change those perceptions, he said.

Shay encouraged retailers to visit ThisIsRetail.com and to share stories that shed more light on the industry's impact.

Research Council annual dinner set for June 4

Bill Bishop, co-author of a book that details how modern demographics explain recent elections, will headline the Washington Research Council's annual dinner on June 4 at the Bellevue Club.

Bishop co-authored The Big Sort, which describes America as increasingly clustered into culturally and politically homogenous communities even as the nation becomes increasingly diverse. Scholars and politicians alike cite Bishop's findings to explain modern election trends and outcomes.

For more details about the dinner, visit Research Council, contact dede@researchcouncil.org or call 206-467-7088. A 5:30 p.m. reception will precede the event.

Issaquah to discuss changing signage

The public is invited to a meeting this Thursday morning at City Hall to discuss changing the sorts of allowable signs businesses may display in Issaquah.

The 9 a.m. meeting in the Pickering Room, City Hall, 1775 12th Avenue N.W. is scheduled to last two hours.

The agenda will include discussions regarding changing the sign code to enhance business visibility while maintaining the city's character.

Visit the Greater Issaquah Chamber of Commerce for a map to City Hall.

Source: Issaquah Chamber of Commerce

Safety tip: (one in a series)

Feds issue new booklet on ladder safety

Anyone who uses a ladder needs to know that it is a convenient tool that can be fatal if used improperly.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is concerned enough about ladder safety that it's just issued a booklet about using ladders safely. That's because falls, especially on construction projects, are the leading cause of death.

The agency also hosted a recent webinar outlining a workplace campaign to reduce the number of accidents from falling. Visitors to the site must complete a brief survey before being able to access content from the webinar.

The OSHA booklet is worth a visit. It includes several tips on properly using a ladder, including:

*Never standing sideways on a ladder, which can cause a person to lose their balance and fall.

*Never standing on the top rung, if the ladder is too short. This, too, can easily cause the ladder to tip.

*Securing the ladder on a smooth, level surface, not off balance.

WRA employs Maria Justin as a safety advisor who can help members by outlining safety plans, suggesting safety meeting topics or visiting a workplace do perform a safety assessment.

Contact Maria at 360-943-9198, Ext. 21 or at maria@retailassociationservices.com.

Breakfast for Heroes set for June 27

A military Breakfast for Heroes has been scheduled on June 27 at the Hilton Bellevue Hotel, 300 112th Avenue S.E.

The event is sponsored by Heartbeat, an organization that provides therapeutic services, emergency assistance and morale building programs for active and discharged service men and women in Washington State.

Featured speaker for the 7:30 a.m. will be Katherine Theresa Platoni, an Army Reserve clinical psychologist with experience teaching patients methods of reducing suffering from chronic pain and terminal illnesses. Col. Platoni's assignments have included four wartime deployments.

To register, click here . 

Save the date, Tacoma port breakfast meeting on May 23

Jenny Keehan, Executive Vice President of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) will talk about emerging retail trends at a Port of Tacoma breakfast meeting on May 23.

Keehan will discuss multichannel marketing, showrooming, social media and the current outlook and trends in the retail industry. The port's containerized import operations play a crucial role in supplying retailers with merchandise.

The event will take place at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center in downtown Tacoma, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Registration information will be available shortly and supplied in a later WRA newsletter.

Health care seminar online

The National Retail Federation's recent seminar on complying with national health care reform is now available online to NRF members.

Those who previously registered for the webinar must click here and provide an e-mail login at the prompt.

For a comprehensive review of health care reform requirements and considerations, visit http://www.retailmeansjobs.com/healthcare.  

Congress debates immigration reform bill

After years of anticipation, advocates of immigration reform said this week they are hopeful the U.S. Senate could vote as soon as June on a bill recently introduced for consideration.

The House is working on its own bill, but the time for its introduction is currently unknown.

These were some of the comments that resulted from a Tuesday teleconference hosted by Immigration Works USA, a national group advocating immigration reform to address current and future worker shortages. WRA participated in the conference call. Click here to listen to the call.

Please read the Senate reform bill here. It calls for establishing worker visa programs that would allow for U.S. citizenship to be attained in as few as five years or longer and fines to be paid by unauthorized workers from other countries. The bill also includes provisions that would allow employers who need to hire foreign workers to hire them more quickly than under the current system.

Tamar Jacoby, Immigration Works' President, said she was generally supportive of the bipartisan Senate bill. But she said quotas to cap the number of workers who could come to the U.S. are too strict to meet the demands of businesses. Immigration Works hopes to relax the quotas through amendments to the bill, Jacoby said.

The bill also would require most U.S. employers to use a computerized system to verify authorization to work within four years after a bill were approved.

WRA plans to attend future Immigration Works teleconferences as details of the bill emerge and possible votes follow in the future.