The Retail Advocate

Money Saving Successes for YOU

Virginia Retail Federation took action during this recent General Assembly session...Read below about some of VRF’s efforts on your behalf.

The Retail EmployerGeneral Assembly Session Summary

The Virginia Retail Federation (VRF) is the advocacy arm of the Retail Alliance and the Retail Merchants Association representing retailers throughout the Commonwealth.

Staying on Top of the Hill: March 10, 2009

Making Dollars and Sense of the 2009 General Assembly Session

As General Assembly Members leave town, on time and with a budget, your VRF lobbyists have spent the last six weeks reviewing legislation, testifying before committees and lobbying behind the scenes to save you money and to ensure that indeed Virginia is a good place to run your business.

The following legislation would have cost you money . . .

Dealer Discount

How much is your RMA membership worth? On the 20th of March when you or your accountant computes and remits to the Commonwealth the Sales Tax collected for the month of February look for the dealer discount on your remittance form and multiple that by 12 months. For most RMA members the Dealer Discount more than pays for their RMA dues. Had the VRF not opposed the Governor’s proposal to eliminate the Dealer Discount those revenues would have been lost.

During the final days of the 2009 General Assembly session, the VRF lobbyists interacted with the House and Senate Conferees (a select group of legislators who review bills on which there has not been agreement by both houses) and Staff members to make certain that the $5 million threshold would be raised in order to exempt out as many retailers from the twice monthly remittance as possible. As a final compromise, the budget conferees listened to your lobbyists. The end result was a Senate and House compromise, effective June 2010 that affects only retailers with $12 million in annual sales or more. The compromise created a new cycle that would begin with the June 20, 2010 remittance.

The best part of the compromise is that your dealer discount has not been lost or reduced and that the new remittance cycle doesn’t go into effect until June 2010. The VRF will work during the remainder of 2009 on other alternatives for the Dealer Discount that will benefit all of its members.

Plastic Bag Ban

How much would it cost you to switch from your current plastic bag to one that is a minimum 2.25 ml thick? According to Elman’s, our packaging vendor, to switch from a .65 ml plastic bag to a 2.25 ml plastic bag it would easily cost 2 1/2 times more.

The VRF was successful in defeating legislation that would ban plastic bags that were not a minimum 2.25 ml thickness. The VRF defeated the ban bills by promoting and securing funding, through budget amendments, for three recycling pilot programs in Isle of Wight, Alexandria and Henry County. If the recycling pilot programs are successful they will be used as a model for other localities throughout the Commonwealth.

ABC Penalty Waivers

For ABC retailers, what would it cost you, in lost sales, if you lose your ABC License? For instance, if a retailer with a perfect ABC record has an employee caught in an ABC sting operation and violation, the loss of license and sales can be huge. To protect our ABC retailers from the potential loss in sales, the VRF was successful in getting passed legislation in which the ABC Board creates a list of violations that may be waived for any ABC retailers who have no prior offenses within the last 5 years.

The VRF will work on its members’ behalf with the ABC Board when the schedule of offenses are developed and will request that prior to the adoption of the list RMA members have the opportunity to review and comment on the proposed schedule of offenses.

Felony Threshold Increase

What is it? The Felony Threshold is the minimum dollar amount stolen (currently $200) that could result in a felony conviction rather than a misdemeanor.

Preventing legislation that would increase the Felony Threshold from passing saves retailers from incurring additional loss. If this proposed increase from $200 to $500 had passed, retailers would have seen an increase in theft and the felon would have faced a lesser charge.

Home Access Businesses, mandated employee criminal background checks

The VRF prevented legislation from passing that would require criminal records check for furniture store delivery employees, appliance installers, interior decorators, and any other employee who is required to enter a residence as part of their job. The background check would have been required prior to employment. Employers would have been required to keep copies of each employee’s fingerprints and copies of the criminal records check and require the employees to wear an employee badge when they enter a customer’s home. Many companies conduct background checks on their employees for security reasons and incur the cost as part of doing business. This legislation would have mandated that you incur a $15 cost for a background check on all employees who have access to a customer’s residence, even if it was the company’s owner!

Other retail issues that passed:

Smoking Ban

Consumer Protection Act (prohibits the sale of recalled children’s products)

These bills, SB 954 and HB 2039, prohibit the sale of, or manufacture for sale, a children's product that was recalled by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. The bill exempts second hand toys or other children’s products.

The RMA has added this link http://www.cpsc.gov/ to the RMA website with a list of recalled products.

Health Care without state mandates

HB 2024 introduced by Del. Danny Marshal and SB 1411 introduced by Senator John Watkins allows health insurers to sell groups with 50 or fewer employees health insurance policies that do not include state mandated health insurance benefits, if, employees have been uninsured during the preceding six months. Without state mandates the cost for these policies should be very attractive. For more information call Gene Bergh, 804-662-5500.

Below is a complete list of legislation of interest to retailers that passed and failed.