CBA has joined the fight for legislation that will "level the playing field" for brick-and-mortar retailers competing with online booksellers.

The retailers' trade association is urging members to contact their local representatives to support the Main Street Fairness Act, which would enable states to require online retailers to collect and pay sales taxes.

CBA has posted draft letters backing the proposal at a new Advocacy & Action page at its Web site, following a meeting in Washington, D.C., with other retail groups concerned about what they see as unfair competition. CBA has also voiced opposition to a proposal in Tennessee, which would exempt Amazon.com from paying sales tax there even though it is building a distribution center in the state.

In support of the campaign there, Link McGinnis, owner of Cedar Springs Christian Store in Knoxville, Tenn., told the local newspaper that the business his parents had founded 34 years ago had been "growing strong until Amazon came on the scene."

Now the Internet retailer was his biggest competitor, and his store's staff had been cut from 100 to 65 in the last six years. "It's very much impacted our business," McGinnis said. "You need to level the playing field. Let's all play by the same rules."

Read the full report in the April issue of Christian Retailing.

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