The National Retail Federation is stepping up its lobbying role in Washington, D.C., in an effort to pass legislation that would create more industry jobs.
“We’re hoping to bring new meaning to the phrase retail politics,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, during his speech to members at the organization’s Big Show in New York City. “Our goal is to ensure that every candidate for elected office knows these three words: Retail means jobs.”
The NRF’s lobbying efforts benefit retailers, which can ripple down to consumers.
Retailers employ 42 million workers, or one out of every four Americans with jobs. The 3.6 million U.S. retail establishments make $2.5 trillion in revenue, or 20 percent of the gross domestic product, according to the NRF.
The trade group’s political agenda this year includes securing trade agreements with emerging nations, lowering corporate taxes and passing legislation to collect sales tax from Internet retailers, an article at NorthJersey.com reports.
Last year, the NRF scored several political wins: the passage of free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, and federal limits on the fees charged by banks on credit and debit card transactions.
Shay said he’s confident that this year the NRF will finally get Congress to act on their request for a federal law that creates uniform collection of sales taxes from Internet retailers.
He added that the NRF also would like to see the U.S. loosen visa restrictions so that more people can travel — and shop — in the United States.
Source: NorthJersey.com (The Record), January 2012
