Three Michigan Retailers Association members joined MRA’s Amy Drumm in Washington to advocate on Capitol Hill and participate in the National Retail Federation’s annual summit.
Jimmy Edwards of Marshall Music Co., Barb Stein of Great Northern Trading Co. in Rockford, and Bill Golden of Golden Shoes in Traverse City met with five members of Michigan’s 16-member congressional delegation in mid-July.
The Retail Advocates Summit brings together retailers from across the country to learn about pressing issues that impact retailers.
“It’s a chance to find out that other retailers are as passionate as you are. As small business owners, we operate in such a small world we don’t realize others share our passion,” Stein said about her third trip to D.C. for the summit.
Attendees heard from Vice President Mike Pence, who addressed the group on July 18. Pence told retailers, “as retail goes, so goes America.” He promised the administration is “very focused on economic growth” and spoke about the need for tax reform, stating that “when the field is level, American businesses win.”
But Pence did not elaborate on what the administration’s version of tax reform would look like. Retailers adamantly opposed the Border Adjustment Tax (BAT), a proposed component of tax reform that would have raised the price of imported products by 20 percent.
And retailers were successful. On July 27, it was announced that Congressional and White House administration leaders are committed to passing comprehensive tax reform that lowers rates without creating a new border tax that would shift the burden to consumers.
Other issues discussed were potential changes to regulations on the fees charged to accept credit and debit cards, and ongoing efforts to achieve parity through collecting sales taxes online.
Congressman Mike Bishop (R-MI) urged retailers to continue sharing how Congressional proposals would affect their businesses.
Senator Gary Peters’ (D-MI) staff echoed Bishop’s sentiments, saying they often hear from national associations but legislators really want to hear how policies will impact the people back home.
After traversing the Hill, Bill Golden remarked, “It’s natural. You already know what to say.” In fact, Bill’s work wasn’t over in D.C. While there, he scheduled meetings in his Traverse City store with both U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and U.S. Rep Jack Bergman (R-MI).
NRF’s 2017 legislator of the year, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), summed up the importance of reaching out to elected officials: “If I don’t cut the lawn once a week, by the end of the month it looks like no one lives there. The weeds take over. It’s the same way in business if you ignore politics and policies. The weeds just get bigger and it becomes harder to tackle the longer you wait. You can’t ignore it.”
NRF hosts an annual Retail Advocates Summit in Washington D.C. MRA members interested in attending next years’ summit or getting involved in Lansing advocacy should contact MRA’s Amy Drumm at adrumm@retailers.com.
As Marshall Music’s Edwards said, “It’s meaningful, powerful work that makes you want to get up and work even harder the next day.”
