They weren't bluffing.... Fwd: Notice of Termination due to New California Law

Last night Amazon terminated all its Affiliates in California. This as a result of the budget bill requiring them to collect sales tax.

As I understand it there was an exemption for businesses with less than $500000 in revenues. Amazon seems to have ignored this and terminated everyone.

It also appears that the legislation will require Amazon to collect sales tax with or without the affiliates.

If anyone has information refuting my comments please let me know but barring that it appears to me that this is just plain mean spirited and hopefully there will be a backlash by the people of California against Amazon.

For those of you that are affiliates please note that many other retailers like Wal-Mart and Barnes and Noble are welcoming your business.

Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
shauge@smallbusinesscalifornia.org
415-690-2188


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amazon.com Associates Program
Date: Wed, Jun 29, 2011 at 9:40 PM
Subject: Notice of Termination due to New California


Hello,

Unfortunately, Governor Brown has signed into law the bill that we emailed you about earlier today. As a result of this, contracts with all California residents participating in the Amazon Associates Program are terminated effective today, June 29, 2011. Those California residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com.

Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned before today will be processed and paid in full in accordance with the regular payment schedule.

You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of California. If you are not currently a resident of California, or if you are relocating to another state in the near future, you can manage the details of your Associates account here. And if you relocate to another state in the near future please contact us for reinstatement into the Amazon Associates Program.

To avoid confusion, we would like to clarify that this development will only impact our ability to offer the Associates Program to California residents and will not affect your ability to purchase from Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com.

We have enjoyed working with you and other California-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program and, if this situation is rectified, would very much welcome the opportunity to re-open our Associates Program to California residents.

As mentioned before, we are continuing to work on alternative ways to help California residents monetize their websites and we will be sure to contact you when these become available.

Regards,
The Amazon Associates Team

Message Category: Notice of Termination due to New California Law
© 2011 Amazon.com. All rights reserved. Amazon.com is a registered trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. Amazon.com, 410 Terry Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5210, USA.

Sales Tax/ Health Cost

In reading the SF Chronicle this morning it appears that the collection of sales tax by out of state Internet companies is part of the Governors budget.

Keep your fingers crossed that this gets passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor. It is estimated it will raise about $200 million for the state and will level the playing field for brick and mortar stores in California.

In the Kaiser Daily Health Journal report today, there were two pieces on the cost of health care in the US.

From 2005 to 2009 health cost reached $2.5 trillion and rose 23%. That is $8100 for every man woman and child in the US and represents about 18% of GNP and rising.

It was also reported that 5% of the population is responsible for slightly over 47% of the cost.

The economic foundation of our country is being threatened by the rising cost of health care spending. Whether you agree or disagree with the health plan that was passed last year this country has got to find solutions to this threat and all of us have to part of the solution.


Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
shauge@smallbusinesscalifornia.org
415-680-2188

Pacific Business Group on Health Health Cost

I serve on the Board of the Pacific Group on Health. This organization is made up of about 50 major employers who have about 3.2 million and 29 employees [CAL Insurance is the 29 employees] that they are providing health coverage for.

The goals of the organization are:

1.Engaging Consumers in Health Care Decisions

2. Paying for Value

3.Redesigning Care Delivery

4. Advancing Value Based Policy

I learned something yesterday that should be shocking to you. In the best case scenario only 2.5% of the payments to health providers are based on pay for performance. The average is 1%.

What an indictment of the US health care system.

It clearly highlights that in the US we pay for procedures with almost no concern of the outcomes of those procedures. In fact if a provider makes mistakes we pay them more than providers that do things correctly. The classic example is acquiring a staph infection at a hospital.

One of the goals of PBGH is to increase the pay for performance to 20% by 2015.

Why am I telling small businesses around the state? The reason is that the cost of health care has been the number one issue for small businesses in each of our 7 Small Business California surveys.

We must be vocal in the debate over reducing health care cost. We must play an active role in questioning the insurance companies how their providers stack up and pushing them to do more. We must let our employees know that they have a role in their health decisions and they must constantly question their providers.

We cannot continue to see health costs rise from the current 17% to 18% [$2.5 Trillion] and yet see the outcomes in many cases at the bottom of the industrial world.

Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
shauge@smallbusinesscalifornia.org
415-680-2188

SBA Lending/Bof A

I talked to my friend Tony Wilkinson at the National Association of Government Lenders and he indicated that the 7a program is doing well but money may run out in late September just before the next fiscal year. It does appear however that money will be there next fiscal year.

Some interesting numbers. Lending overall to small business for the first quarter was down from $624 billion to $609 billion. What is really interesting is that 52% of the outstanding small business loans have a maturity of 1 year or less and about 24% are outstanding one to three years and 24% are three years or more.

Of that amount 7a and 504 loans are 60% to 70% of the loans. That is not the way the market should work with the so called lender of last resort has the majority of the market for loans 3years or more.

I don’t know if you saw that Bank of America is going to charge almost 30% interest if you are lat on a payment on a credit card.

If any of you tried to do this in our business with our customers it would be considered usury.


Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
shauge@smallbusinesscalifornia.org
415-680-2188

Small Business Shrinking Payroll

Please see article in NY Times this morning indicating that for the month of May more small businesses are shrinking their payroll than expanding.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/business/15jobs.html?_r=1&hp

What is happening in your business?

Are you optimistic about the future?

Are there any unique problems in your industry?

For example one the members of Small Business California who has a cabinet shop indicates in Northern California there are restrictions on the glue they can use but glue coming in from China is being used circumventing the restrictions.


Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
shauge@smallbusinesscalifornia.org
415-680-2188

California's business competitiveness

On Friday I will be talking to Steve [see below]. What are your comments?

Of course most small businesses can’t move but I still would like to hear from you about what are the problems of doing business in California and if you could move would you.

Yesterday Blue Shield announced they would be returning all profits above 2%. What do you think about this?

Is there anything a health insurance company could do that would make you feel that they are trying to solve the health insurance problem?

I was a little dismayed when I read in the Chronicle that Insurance Commissioner Jones speaking to the Blue Shield announcement said “ Why should insurance companies determine how much excess profit they should return” Implication any profits are excess.

Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
shauge@smallbusinesscalifornia.org
415-680-2188


-------------------------------------

From: Malanga, Steve [mailto:steve@city-journal.org]
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2011 1:17 PM
To: Scott Hauge
Subject: california's business competitiveness

Greetings. I am a writer for City Journal magazine working on a piece on the business competitiveness of California, based on some new research on job migration nationally. I was wondering if I could interview you about the key competitive issues that influence small businesses thinking of relocating out of California.

Thanks


Steve Malanga
Senior Editor, City Journal
Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute
(www.city-journal.org)

Paid Sick Leave AB 400/SB826/ Out of State Internet Collection of Sales Tax

Small Business California has been tracking closely Assemblywoman Ma’s paid sick leave [AB400]. Many of you have indicated you would like to help defeat this bill.

Small Business California held back its opposition believing that it would not move forward given the provision that it would cost the state about $50 million for In Home Health Services.

We just found out that AB 400 has been made a two year bill meaning it will not move forward this session. We of course will track this next year.

Small Business California is sponsoring SB 826 {826}. This bill would impose minimal fines on Claims Administrators who do not report claims information to the Workers Compensation Information System. This is important in developing workers compensation policy for the state.

It is estimated that between 15 and 25% of the Claims Administrators are either not filing this information or filing incomplete information.

I am pleased to report this bill has passed the Senate and will be going to the Assembly where it is expected to pass.

We think this is important as this will provide a mechanism to keep track of non-compliant Claims Administrator.

For those of you in SF please take a look at the SF Chronicle this morning. In the letters to the Editor page Small Business California has a letter to the Editor supporting the collection of the sales tax by out of state Internet companies.



Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
shauge@smallbuisnesscalifornia.org
415-680-2188

Internet Tax

Small Business California has been a strong supporter of having out of state Internet companies collect the sales tax on products bought in California.

To us it is a simple fairness issue leveling the playing field between Internet sales and brick and mortar stores. It also will reduce the administrative burden of small businesses as they will not have to keep track of their purchases and pay the use tax. The Board of Equalization has audited hundreds of thousands of small businesses on this issue over the last couple of years.

There are three bills dealing with this issue. In the Assembly Skinner AB 153, Calderon AB 155 and in the Senate Hancock’s S 235.

Calderon’s bill passed the Assembly 47-16 yesterday and Hancock’s bill passed last month. It is not clear to me if Skinners bill has passed the Assembly but if not it is expected to do so.

It seems that some if not all of these bills will get through the Assembly and Senate and go to the Governor. It is not clear whether the Governor will sign any of them. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed past legislation.

The time has come to implement the collection of the sales tax on out of state Internet companies. For too long our brick and mortar stores have been put at a 9% to 10% disadvantage when competing with these companies.

What makes this interesting to me is the coalition that has been put together. Small Business groups and businesses like the big box stores. Politics truly do make strange bedfellows.


Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
shauge@smallbusinesscalifornia.org
415-680-2188