I’ve got an update on the appeal of the New York affiliate tax, courtesy of Karen McMahon of Purposeful Living Incorporated. Karen previously worked in New York politics before moving into the affiliate marketing world.

The attempted appeal on the tax probably did not hit the news because it’s not far enough along in the state process yet to be news, according to Karen.

Here is the official status in the state system:

Status of affiliate tax appeal in New York

Karen McMahon explains the status…

It passed the Senate on 6-24-08. However, this was the last day of Session in New York State. It looks like the Senate quickly tried to push it through the Assembly Ways and Means Committee to no avail. Where it says “No Same as” it means there is no Assembly bill # attached to the bill yet.

In New York State, both the Senate and Assembly have to vote and approve the bill for it to become law. Usually a bill goes through one house and is then passed off to the other house. Above where it says the bill was referred to the Assembly Ways & Means, this means that the bill has to go through the Ways & Means Committee. The Assembly members on that committee review the bill and then vote on whether that bill should go to the Assembly for a vote by all Assembly members.

I see a couple of issues here. First, as I mentioned above, June 24th was the last day of Session for the NY State Legislature. No one should get their hopes up for a quick appeal of the law because Session does not begin again until January 2009.

Next the bill needs to make it’s way through and out of the Assembly Ways & Means Committee. A committee has the power to hold up any bill they choose to keep it from going to the floor of the Assembly for a vote. So it depends ALOT on who is on the Ways & Means committee, how the bill is written and what kind of pressure the committee receives to vote on the bill and push it out to the Assembly floor.

Karen goes on to recommend some actions that can be taken…

1. If you are in New York State and directly affected by this law, start by identifying who your NYS Senator and Assembly member are and get in touch with them. Cordially and professionally let them know how this law is affecting you. New York State is notoriously known as a place that is very difficult on small business, so let them know the details of your situation. Our New York State Legislators are currently in their home offices, so try and schedule a time to personally meet with them, have a phone conference and/or try and meet with their staff person who handles individual constituent issues. There is usually at least one staff person on every legislator’s team that can work with you, research the issue further and help get you answers. That’s what they are there for!

To find out more, visit these sites:
http://www.senate.state.ny.us/senatehomepage.nsf/home?openform

http://assembly.state.ny.us

2. I have listed below the members of the NY Assembly Ways and Means Committee. These are the folks who have the power to move the bill forward or sit on it when session starts up again next January. But don’t wait! If your Assembly member is on this list, make sure to contact them right away and let them know why this law needs to be repealed. Over the coming months, stay in touch with your Assembly member, especially if they are on this list, and if not, ask your Assembly member to call the members on this list and advocate for you!

3. The Affiliate Marketing Industry really should work with the National Retail Federation and/or Direct Marketing Association on this situation. They are the “heavy hitters” with the clout, time and money to advocate for us. I suggest we set up a phone conference with the lobbyists of these organizations. They can give us first hand information about where the bill is at, who helped push the bill through the NYS Senate (these Senators will also be very influential people we can contact), and can give us the best advice on how to speak up and be heard. They can also probably provide us “concrete” figures including how many of us are affected by this law, what the economic impact is, etc. that we can use in our arguments. Does anyone have the contacts to make this happen?

Ways and Means

Chair

Members

I would urge any New York affiliate marketers to heed the advice above and take action.

On Sunday, August 10 at Affiliate Summit in Boston, we’ll have a session on the latest with the New York affiliate tax issue.

The following folks with be discussing the issue and there will be a Q&A following the session:

In related news, the affiliate tax issue is polarizing New York politicians. New York Senator Chuck Schumer, as well as Representatives Anthony Weiner and Gregory Meeks are opposed to Governor Paterson on the tax, while New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is siding with Paterson.

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