SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced March 7 that he has joined a bipartisan coalition of 44 attorneys general urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject its “physical presence” rule, which harms a state’s ability to collect taxes from out-of-state businesses that sell products to consumers in-state.
“There is just no reason in our modern economy why out-of-state and online retailers should enjoy an exception that our local businesses do not,” Becerra said in a statement. “That is why we are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject its outdated ‘physical presence’ rule. California proudly boasts the sixth largest economy in the world and, in order to continue thriving, we want to ensure all those who do business in our state play by the same rules.”
Joining Becerra in the brief were the attorneys general of Colorado, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Virgin Islands, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.